Fox and Cards
by jingo4754
Summary: Naruto is sent to the Cardcaptor universe by a tear in space during his battle with Sasuke at the valley, now with no way home he helps Sakura Kinomoto with her quest to collect all the Clow cards, finding the many things he never had in life on the way
1. FLYing introductions

**Okay, chapter one of the enjoy**

Regular speech

_Thoughts_

**Demon speech**

_**Demon thought**_

(Author notes)

**I don't own Naruto or Card Captor Sakura**

At the valley of the end, two power shinobi stood, Sasuke, the brain-washed Uchiha covered in the curse mark, and Naruto, container of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, surround by the Kyuubi's chakra. The two shinobi powered up their strongest attack, one ready to kill the other, the other to bring a friend home. They jumped toward each other and shouted.

"RASANGEN!"

"CHIDORI!"

The two attacks meant with unimaginable force, the two different types of chakra mixing together to form a sphere of deep darkness. Inside the sphere the two warriors could see their attacks giving way, "I have to push harder!" The two thought as they forced more chakra into their attacks. The power between two attacks collapsed from the sudden power spike causing the sphere to explode. Sasuke and Naruto flew apart and crashed into two the two separate statues of Konoha's founders.

Naruto winced as he sat up, looking over to Sasuke with one eye. Then something caught his eye. He looked up to see a small dark spot floating where their attacks had meant. It seemed to simply sit there before suddenly expanding with power winds sucking debris into the spot. Naruto grunted as he stood up and what little of his chakra was left to stay rooted to the ground.

That is until he saw an unconscious Sasuke start to be sucked into the hole. Naruto acted on instinct alone as he leaped to his friend. He grab Sasuke's arm and used all his might to throw Sasuke away from the black hole. "I have to save myself now!" Naruto thought as he formed a ram sign with his hands, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" He shouted forming a human chain as his clones appeared. The clone at the end of the chain anchored itself to the ground as it struggled to keep its hold.

Naruto winced as he felt his jutsu take its toll on his body, "I don't think… I can make it…" Naruto thought as he reached into his pocket and took the picture of his team he kept in his pocket for luck, "I have to let them know I'm alive!" Naruto then took a kunai out of his holster and cut into the picture 'still alive' Naruto smirked as he took off his hitai-ate, tucked the cut picture in between the plate and cloth. He reeled his arm back just as he started to feel his clones dispel from running out of chakra. With his last conscious breath he threw his hitai-ate into the cliff wall near the first Hokage's statue, "That… should do it…" Naruto then blacked out as he was sucked into the black hole. The second he was swallowed by the darkness, the hole vanished.

Kakashi and Pakkun arrived to the desolated Valley to see Sasuke laying face down near the head of the statue. Kakashi ran over and checked Sasuke's vitals while looking over to Pakkun, "Where is Naruto's scent coming from?"

"Down here!" Pakkun said leading Kakashi down the Valley wall. He landed on the small patch of land and started to sniff around, eventually finding Naruto's Hitai-ate embedded in the Valley wall, "Oh no…" Pakkun said quietly as Kakashi landed with Sasuke swung over his shoulder.

Kakashi's eye showed his sadness as he took the hitai-ate out of the wall, "No… Naruto…" Kakashi muttered closing his eye and clenching his fist around the Hitai-ate.

"Poor kid…" Pakkun said before noticing the edge of the photo, "What's that?"

Kakashi opened his eye to the Hitai-ate and saw the same edge. He opened his fist and pulled out the photo and smiled, "He's alive… And I must admit I'm impressed with his resourcefulness." Kakashi said to himself before he felt water land on his finger. He looked up as the water sent to the sky from the battle started to return to the Earth. Kakashi muttered a curse under his breath before turning to Pakkun, "Can you still track Naruto's scent?"

"Actually Kakashi. I can't explain why but Naruto's scent stops in the middle of the falls. He may have gotten washed away." Pakkun said turning to the waterfall as he was drenched by the rain.

Kakashi looked to the waterfall as well before making a tough decision, "I see… Then I don't have a choice but to take Sasuke to the medic-nins that were dispatched. After that I can search for Naruto." Kakashi said as he tucked both the photo and Naruto's Hitai-ate away then leaping out of the valley as Pakkun poofed back to the summon world.

Meanwhile Naruto laid unconscious in the middle of a large crater in school yard in a foreign world, not knowing how much his life had changed.

"WWWAAHHH!" Sakura screamed as she shot up out of bed. She looked around sleepily before looking at the alarm clock in her hands, "Oh, it's just the alarm." She said with a yawn before turning her alarm off. She set it back down as she heard her father call for her about breakfast. "Hai!" She called back as she started to change her clothes. As she changed she couldn't help but wonder about her dream, "I wonder what that was? It wasn't like my normal dreams… That boy… That battle… Maybe I've just been watching too much TV." Sakura thought to herself as she finished changing and headed out of her room and down the stairs. (Yeah I'm trying another approach. See I figure it most people have Sakura have dreams about Naruto's life, so I decided to just have it be of his battle with Sasuke.)

"Good morning!" Sakura greeted as she appeared in the doorway to the dining room only frown at the person she saw. Her Big brother, Toya.

Toya lowered his coffee mug from his lips as before turning to Sakura with a playful smile, "Why were you thrashing about in your room?"

"I wasn't thrashing about!" Sakura said sternly as she walked over to her seat at the table.

"For that, you sure were making lots of noise." Toya continued to tease his sister.

Sakura glared at Toya as she leaned over the back of her seat, "I was just walking like I usually do!"

"When you walk, it sounds like some huge monster is strolling about." Toya said with a smirk before looking away while drinking more of his coffee.

Sakura only clenched her fist before stomping over in front of Toya, "Sakura is not a kaiju!" She said referring to herself in third person. Toya only continued to smirk as he placed his mug on top of Sakura's head while Sakura waved her arms around wildly.

For Sakura, the morning continued to normally. She had breakfast with her family, rushed to catch up to her brother, and rode on her rollerblades with her brother Toya and her crush Yukito, Toya's close friend to school. That is where everything normal in her life met the world's chaos beacon.

One hour before dawn:

Naruto groaned in pain as he awoke in the crater. He sat up before grasping his side as he felt a fiery burning feeling run through his body. Naruto winced as the pain slowly subsided and he removed his hand, only to see dried blood peel off his side onto his side revealing the moderate size wound there, "That's strange… Kyuubi normally heals my wounds… Is it because I used so much of his chakra in that fight?" Naruto asked himself before wincing again, "Gah I'll have to worry about that later! I need to find some medical supplies." Naruto then slowly got to his feet, still holding his side, and looked at the large pool of blood that had soaked into the dirt of the crater, "At least Kyuubi kept me alive." Naruto thought before limping over to the big white building nearby.

As he walked over to the door, he noticed all the lights in the building were off. Naruto sighed as he grabbed the door handle, "Looks like no one is here…" Naruto thought as he pulled the door open, "But it's unlocked… weird." Naruto walked into the building looking around carefully at the dark hallways, "I just hope I can find someone or something to help me…" Naruto said before wincing again at the pain that would flare in his side. He started to walk down the hallway of the building when he noticed a bulletin board near the door. Naruto decided to check the board for an idea of where he was, only to be disappointed, "I'm at some sort of school… wonderful…" He thought before a light bulb went off in his head, "Schools have a nurse's office!" He shouted loudly, his voice echoing down the halls.

Naruto eagerly scanned the map before finding the room he wanted. When he did, he hurryingly limped down the hall to the office. He smiled as he grabbed the knob, only to growl as it refused to turn, "Great… locked. Well it shouldn't be too hard." Naruto said to himself as he dug into his nearly empty supply pouch and pulled out a small bent pin. He stuck the pin into the key hole and tumbled with the tumblers for a minute before getting a satisfying click. He smiled again as he opened the door and went to work looking for the medic supplies he needed.

When Naruto found the supplies he did a quick patch job on himself with the help of a couple clones. After checking that the bandages were tight and secure Naruto exited the office, "Well now I better find out where I am. Well this is a school so I guess I'll look in the library." Naruto said to himself before taking out the map he had taken from the bulletin board, "Let's see… the library is… this way." Naruto said walking down the hallway to the stair case.

After finding the library and an hour of learning exactly where he was Naruto moved to the school roof. He sat on the roof of the stair well up to the roof cross legged with his arms crossed across his chest and a frustrated look, "Okay… I'm in a town called Tomoeda, Japan… No shinobi history… weird medicine that is nowhere near effective as Konoha's… and where people have gotten too lazy to walk anywhere…" Naruto said as he turned to the road to see a few cars go by. He then growled for a second before shouting to the sky, "WHERE THE HELL AM I?" He shouted at the top of his lungs, causing dogs to bark, people to stop and look around, and even a few car alarms go off. After Naruto let out all his frustration in his yell, he took a breath before saying to himself, "Might as well stick around here for a bit. Maybe I can find someone to help me… Question who do I tell in a world of no shinobi?"

In the mean time, Sakura happened to be on her way to school with Toya and Yukito, "Did you hear that?" Sakura asked looking up after hearing the loud yell.

"Sounds like someone is having a bad morning." Yukito said as he looked to the sky as well.

Toya only shrugged before noticing something at Sakura's school, "What's going on?" He voiced as he pointed over to Sakura's school.

Sakura and Yukito both looked to Sakura's school only to gasp. Police officers were waving students inside. Sakura slowed to a stop in front of her school, "Um… What's going on?"

One of the officers turned to Sakura and smiled, "Nothing you need to worry about little miss. Just head straight to your class room okay?" Sakura nodded to the officer before heading inside the school gate. After taking off her skates and changing into her school shoes. She heeded the cop's words and went straight to her class room, "Good morning!" She said entering the room only to feel the tense atmosphere. Sakura quickly walked over to her friends, who greeted her quietly. Sakura looked at them all curiously before asking, "What happened?"

Chiharu and Rika both looked at each other before turning back to Sakura as Rika said, "A student came early this morning and found that." She said pointing to the school yard through the window.

"Hoe?" Sakura asked as she walked over to the window only to gasp in shock, "W-W-What is that?" Sakura shouted as she looked at the crater with a blood soaked bottom.

"They think someone may have been murdered here…" Chiharu said looking at the crater before hugging her arms shaking a bit, "The kid that found it said he overheard the police say it was someone's blood in that crater…"

"S-S-Someone's b-b-b-blood?" Sakura asked now shaking in fear.

"That's not all!" Naoko said walking up to the three but looking rather happy, "I just heard a rumor that the ghost is haunting the school!"

Sakura went from shaking to completely pale, "Ghost…?"

Naoko nodded before starting to explain, "Yeah, the student that called the police said that when he was standing outside the crater, he saw a boy with sunny blonde hair wearing a torn orange jumpsuit wrapped in bandages walking on the wall! But the wall was above the third floor!"

"Naoko-chan… He was probably scared from seeing all the blood and the crater…" Rika said before shaking her head, "Can we please stop talking about this! I don't know how much of it I can take!"

"Y-Yeah… Let's stop talking about it…" Sakura said while Chiharu agreed. Sakura walked over to her desk as the conversation ended.

As she set her hat on her desk and bag on the small hook of the desk she heard a quiet, "Good morning." Sakura looked to her left to see Tomoyo sit down in the desk next to her.

"Good morning Tomoyo-chan. Are you nervous about this too?" Sakura asked, knowing exactly why Tomoyo seemed uneasy.

Tomoyo nodded as she set her bag on her desk, "I am. Something like this is very unsettling…"

"Well…" Sakura said, trying to think of what to say, "Let's just push through this…"

At that moment the school intercom came on, getting all the students attention as a voice said, "Attention students and faculty. This is your principle. I have been informed by the police that the crater and blood outside are nothing more than a prank by the junior high students. It seems they got the wrong school. Please go on with your day normally. Outside classes will resume as normally schedule, only away from the court yard. That is all."

Sakura smiled before letting out a sigh of relief, "Thank goodness. It was just a prank."

"That is very relieving. I wonder what cruel students would pull a prank like this." Tomoyo asked while placing a finger on her chin, "It's rather puzzling on how they would get our schools mixed up as well." Tomoyo said as she continued to wonder.

"Well it does get dark around here at night since the school lights are off." Sakura told Tomoyo before the teacher walked into the room and ended the conversation.

Naruto sighed as he stood on the school roof over looking his crash site, "Great… So much for searching where I crashed… I guess I'll just wait until…" Naruto started to say only to stop as the police and school faculty filed out of school yard after taping it off. Naruto couldn't help but smile at his luck, "Well that's convenient. Well I'd better search it while I can." Naruto said to himself as he carefully hopped over the fence so as not to tear his bandages.

Sakura was sitting in class dazed as she day dreamed and doodled in her notebook. The first one was of what looked like a plush toy while the other was a chibi familiar looking ninja to her, "I can't get that dream out of my mind…" She thought to herself as she looked out the window just in time to see a flash of orange go by. Sakura blinked in disbelief as what she had seen, "That… That couldn't be!" Sakura then tried to lean over to the window without being seen by her teacher. Tomoyo noticed her friends perplexing behavior but decided not to ask right then so that she wouldn't get caught.

Sakura smiled as she managed to get a glance of the crater only to stop when she spotted the same patch of orange that had gone by. That's when Sakura got a good look at the thing, "B-b-blonde hair? Orange suit? And I think… Bandages? He's the…" Sakura gulped as her face paled again, "G-g-gh-GHOST!" Sakura shouted as she stood up out of her seat.

Everyone stopped and stared at Sakura as she realize she had shouted out her last thought. The teacher lowered her book as she said, "Something wrong Kinomoto?"

"N-no. It's nothing… Sorry for interrupting." Sakura said as she sat back down, but not before looking back to the crater only to see the person was gone, "Where did he go?"

Naruto meanwhile was sitting on the roof again, "Okay so I didn't lose anything in the crater… probably lost it during my fight with Sasuke." Naruto said crossing his arms with a frustrated sigh, "Well… I guess I should look for help. But who to tell…" Naruto muttered before sighing again, "Well I guess I'll just try to feel out some chakra and see who I get." Naruto said before moving into a meditative position. "Okay. I've never sensed chakra before but it can't be that hard. All I need to do is focus."

Needless to say, after about ten minutes Naruto was ready to pull his hair out as he couldn't feel anything, "Why is this so hard? I should have at least felt something!" Naruto shouted to the sky before he felt a tug in his mind. Naruto quickly smiled as he hopped to his feet, "Ha I knew I could do it! Let's see… The pull came from… this way!" Naruto said as he jumped over the fence and used chakra to stick to the wall. He casually walked down to the fourth floor and started carefully peeking into each classroom, "Not this one…" Naruto thought before moving to another classroom. After trial and error on a few classrooms he managed to find where the feeling was coming from, "This is the one!"

Naruto carefully lowered his head to the window and gazed into the classroom. He first checked to see the teacher was reading from her book and thereby wouldn't see him unless he made noise. He then scanned the classroom carefully, studying each person, "No. No. Not him either…" Naruto then turned his gaze to Sakura. Immediately he got a reaction from her as she glanced to the window. Naruto smirked as he realized she was the one the feeling from coming from, "She's the one! But how to get her to believe me…" Naruto thought to himself with his eyes closed before realizing something. He looked back to the classroom to see Sakura staring at him in disbelief.

"No… no way…" Sakura thought as she stared at Naruto, "He's the boy from my dreams… But… how?"

Naruto only smiled and waved at Sakura, who only dropped her pencil in shock. This got her teacher's attention as well as made Naruto pull his head back out of the view of the window, "Something wrong again Kinomoto?" The teacher said looking to the window, "If nothing is there then I would appreciate you pay attention."

Sakura blushed, embarrassed by her teacher. She glanced back to window to see Naruto was no longer there, "I know I saw someone there! But… He can't be real! He was in my dream!" Sakura thought to herself before she felt someone tap her shoulder.

Sakura turned to the person who tapped her to see Tomoyo looking at her worryingly, "Sakura-chan, are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah… I think my imagination is getting the better of me though…" Sakura said before she was asked to read a passage of the textbook.

Naruto sighed as he dug into his pocket and pulled out the school map, "Thank Kami they put the grade schedules on here. Let's see… The classes don't end for a good few hours. Guess I'll wait it out." Naruto muttered to himself before going back to the roof. As he waited he started to wonder, "I should get the layout of the town down. But so far I don't have anyone to help me and the only person that might be able to help is here…" Naruto said before hatching an idea, "I know! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto shouted forming his ram sign.

In an instant ten clones appeared around him. This cause Naruto to blink slightly confused, "Weird. I could have sworn I used enough chakra for twenty clones… Guess I'm still recovering." He said with a shrug before standing up, "All right you know what to do! Go and get the layout the city down while I wait here." The clones all nodded and took off in separate directions. With that done, Naruto laid down on the stair well roof for a nap. His nap didn't last long however as the school bell rang. Naruto shot to his feet as the bell rang, "WHO WHAT WHEN WHERE GAH!" Naruto shouted before grasping his side in pain, "Guess I was right about taking it easy for a bit. Ah well, not like I'll be fighting for a bit." Naruto muttered before looking down to the school yard where he saw students filing out of the school with a select number staying in the school yard, being in a cheerleader uniform. He was about to shrug it off when he noticed Sakura was among them.

Naruto looked on at the group curiously, "I wonder what they're doing…" He said to himself before jumping off the room down to a tree near the group. There he noticed they doing different forms of flip and spins together. Naruto couldn't help but be impressed at performance, "Wow. Not bad for people with no combat training." He said quietly as he sat back and watched the squad go from performance practicing to twirling and tossing batons into the air, "How long are they going to train? The sooner I can talk to her the better…" Naruto thought as watched the batons go up and down in the air.

However he noticed Sakura get a dazed look in her eyes as she stared at her baton in the air. He also noticed that the baton was aiming straight for Sakura's forehead. Naruto quickly snapped a small piece of a tree branch and threw it like a kunai at the baton. While it didn't fly straight like a kunai, but it still managed to get the job he wanted done. The piece of the branch slammed into the baton, shattering into pieces while making the baton flip away from Sakura and somehow bounce over to the tree Naruto was hiding in. (my sister was in cheerleading. I've seen those batons a bounce some distance before you ask.)

The entire squad stopped and looked at the remains of the branch before turning to the bouncing baton as it settled at the base of the tree Naruto was hiding in. Sakura ran over to her baton as the squad muttered about the strange happening. As Sakura picked up her baton, she looked up into the tree only to gasp in shock. There sat Naruto squatting on a branch staring back at Sakura. He simply smiled and gave a wave of his hand, "Yo."

Sakura looked around for a second before pointing to herself. Naruto nodded before asking, "What's your name?"

"K-Kinomoto Sakura." She said quietly as she grasped her baton nervously, "You're… Uzumaki Naruto right?"

"How did you know my name?" Naruto asked before noticing the squad looking at Sakura worried. He also watched a few start to walk to Sakura before he looked back to Sakura, "We'll talk more later."

"Hoe?" Sakura said with a tilt of her head.

"Sakura-chan!" Her friends called to her, causing her to turn away from Naruto. The second she did, Naruto disappeared from the tree. Sakura looked back when she heard the tree rustle, only to see Naruto was no longer there.

"H-how did he…?" Sakura started to ask as her friends Chiharu and Naoko walked up behind her.

Chiharu looked to Naoko for a moment before asking, "What did who do?"

Sakura turned around to her friends with a puzzled face. She looked over her shoulder to the spot where Naruto had been before shaking her head, "Nothing. Let's get back to practice." She said walking back over to the squad with Chiharu and Naoko behind right behind her. However from that moment Sakura couldn't get Naruto out of her mind.

Meanwhile Naruto was back on the roof, observing Sakura from a distance, "I guess I should start looking around town." Naruto said as his clones arrive, each one with a folded piece of paper in hand. Naruto smiled as he took each piece of paper before dispelling his clones. Naruto then checked he piece of paper to see they were all maps of different parts of the city with key spots marked, mainly stores or places he could "borrow" supplies.

"Let's see… most of the shops are located in this piece." Naruto said as he used a pen one of his clones had bought to write down the number one on the paper, "School and houses, business part of town, and… Well I don't know what to make of this last one." Naruto shrugged as he tucked the paper away. He looked at the school clock before rubbing the back of his head, "Let's see… What's a good place to meet her…? I don't want to make it look like I'm following her." Naruto muttered before shrugging, "I'll just explore the town today and worry about talking with Sakura-san tomorrow."

Naruto took one last look at Sakura as she went inside the school building with her classmates before taking off into the sky. He easily went from roof to roof before landing on a store building in the shopping district, "Let's see what they have around here." Naruto was about to hop down into an alleyway when he realized something rather crucial. His jumpsuit was torn in pieces and his bandages were soaked with blood. He chuckled to himself as a sweat drop rolled down the back of his head, "I guess I'll have to wait until tonight and get some clothes from somewhere… Wonderful."

Naruto simply settled for exploring the town out of sight until sundown to avoid being questioned or arrested by the town's law enforcement. He soon found himself landing in the middle of penguin park with no one around. Naruto only sighed as he walked over to the king penguin and sat down on the slide coming out of its mouth, "Man I sure know how to get into a mess… I need new clothes, don't have my money with me, and need to find a place to get food from for free… It can't get much worse then this…" Naruto complained as he rubbed the bandages still covering his injuries.

Unbeknownst to Naruto a pair of familiar eyes happened to be watching the park when he appeared. She gasped when she saw Naruto, quickly going behind a bush and watching Naruto for a moment. After observing Naruto, she slowly moved out from behind the bushes and slowly walked towards him

Naruto only sighed as he rubbed his head in frustration, "I'm getting nowhere… I guess I just survive until Ero-sennin sends me a toad message."

"U-um…" A soft voice suddenly said getting Naruto's attention. Naruto looked up in surprise to see Sakura standing nearby. She was fidgeting nervously with her hands while keeping a distance from Naruto, "Are… you alright?" She asked, her gaze moving from Naruto's face to the bloodied bandages she could see through the hole in his jumpsuit where Sasuke had punched.

Naruto followed her gaze to his bandages and smiled while waving his hand, "I'm fine. I've been through worse believe it or not." Naruto said with a chuckle before grasping his side in pain.

Sakura gasped in worry as she watched Naruto hold his side, "Don't move! I'll go get help!" Sakura turned around, rushing off to find help.

"No!" Naruto shouted, causing Sakura to stop at the entrance of the park as he hurried up to her, "I'm fine! Really! I don't want to bother someone that could be helping someone who needs it." Naruto said with a foxy grin before asking, "So how did you know my name earlier? I just met you today after all.

"To be honest… I don't know." Sakura giggled nervously as she rubbed her head sheepishly, "I had a strange dream last night and you were in it. You were fighting a really scary looking monster with giant hands coming out of his back. You had this strange red glow that looked like a fox around you. It was a really scary dream." Sakura said shaking a bit before smiling, "Strange right?"

Naruto only stared at her with a blank stare as his eyebrow twitched "She… She watched our entire battle in a dream? But… how?" Naruto, not sure how to delicately tell Sakura what he was thinking, said it bluntly instead, "Sakura, that wasn't a dream."

"Heh?" Sakura froze, staring at Naruto is disbelief as a sweat drop rolled down her head.

Naruto nodded before continuing, "Yeah, it wasn't a dream. That really happened to me, in my world." Naruto said calmly, watching Sakura to see how she would take what he said.

Sakura blinked before glaring at Naruto, "You don't have to tease me you know!"

"I'm not teasing you." Naruto assured her before reaching into his pouch, "I can prove…" Naruto started before hearing the sound of roller blades moving. He looked up to see an angry Sakura skating away, "Hey wait!" Naruto shouted as he started to chase after her only to have his side spike with pain again. Naruto dropped to his knee as he held his side through the agonizing discomfort "Why is my side acting like this? Even after being having a Chidori run through my shoulder it healed just fine!" Naruto thought to himself as the pain in his side flared even more to the point where it forced Naruto to pass out. He never noticed the bandages wrapped around his wound start to fill with blood.

Sakura fumed as she skated home at the boy she had just met, "He didn't have to tease me like that… Sheesh. Like he really came from another world." Sakura griped as she made her way home. Little did she know how much her life was about to change that day or about the boy suffering back at the park.

Naruto groaned as he woke up, slowly climbing to his feet, "Why did that happen…?" Naruto asked himself before checking his wound, "Great I tore my wound open… But it's already healed…" Naruto said before scowling, "Kyuubi is trying something… I guess I have to wait until I can contact him before finding out. He wouldn't do anything that would risk killing me anyway since it would kill him too…" Naruto muttered before looking to the sky to see lights shooting off in different directions, "Weird meteor shower." Naruto watched the lights for a moment before he shrugged, "Well now I have to figure out what to do… I angered the only person that might help me…" Naruto muttered before remembering what Sakura had said, "She said that she had a dream about me and Sasuke fighting… How did she?"

Naruto grabbed his chin in thought as he tried to figure out what could have possibly happened, only to come up empty as he rubbed his head frustrated, "AAAARRRGGGGHHH! I'm not getting anywhere…" He screamed before his stomach let out a loud growl, "And now I have to find some food…" Naruto said as he wrapped his arms around his stomach, plopping onto his bottom.

As Naruto tried to maul over what to eat, a large gust suddenly picked up, kicking up dirt and nearby trash. Naruto quickly shielded his eyes as he looked around, "What the hell? It was calm just a minute ago!" Naruto continued to look around before hearing a loud cry from above. He turned to the sky just as a giant bird flew over the park. Naruto hopped to the bird as he watched the bird fly by in shock, "That's a big bird!" Naruto shouted just before his stomach growled again. Naruto smiled as he realized the possibility in front of him, "With that much meat I could last for a week!" Naruto quickly hopped into a tree, chasing after the bird as it flew away, "Get back here dinner!"

Meanwhile Sakura, the newly named Cardcaptor, was rollerblading down the road after the very same thing as Naruto. As she chased the bird in question she couldn't help but think, "How did this all happen...?"

"Sakura focus!" Kero shouted as he smacked her on the head, "You have to capture the card before it does anymore damage!" Sakura winced from the smack as she continued to chase the card.

Naruto was right behind the giant weird with a rope around his shoulder he had taken from a shed he passed by. He made a crude rope lasso before spinning the rope above his head with a smirk, "I got you now!" He shouted as he threw the lasso at the bird. The rope barely made it around one of the bird's talons, which was all Naruto needed. He pulled the rope, tightening the lasso around the bird's leg, "You're MIIINNNEEE!" He shouted only to be pulled out of the tree he was in halfway through his sentence as the bird turned, flying down over a road.

"There it is!" Kero shouted as he spotted the bird fly right over them, "After it! We can't let the FLY card get away!"

"I can't capture something that big!" Sakura shouted as she stopped in the middle of the road only start looking around, "Do you hear something?"

"That! FLY getting away!" Kero shouted back before hearing what had caught Sakura's attention, "Wait I do hear something…"

"WHAAAHHOOO!" Naruto cheered as he soon flew right above Sakura's head as he was pulled by the FLY card.

"Uzumaki-kun?" Sakura shouted as she watched Naruto be pulled away, "What is he doing?"

"It looks like he's trying to catch the card." Kero said as he crossed his arms before realizing the situation, "We have to hurry! We can't let him catch the card!"

"Why?" Sakura asked blinking at Kero confused.

Her answer was Kero pulling on one of her pig-tails to get her moving again, "Because you're the Cardcaptor! Not him!"

"Let go!" Sakura shouted as she started skating after the card again. She watched as Naruto started to climb the rope, leaving her to sweat drop thinking, "What's with him?" Sakura then remembered the dream she had about Naruto, "T-That dream… it couldn't have been real could it?" Sakura's question was soon answered as the bird look down at Naruto and let out a loud cry. A strong gust of wind blew from its mouth, forcing Naruto to tighten his hold onto the rope. But that wasn't what answered Sakura's question. It was after the wind launched her into the air. Sakura screamed as she was blown away.

Her scream reached Naruto's ear, causing him to look just in time to see Sakura get blown off the ground, "Is that…? Sakura!" Naruto shouted as he recognized the girl. He quickly let go of the rope, using the wind to propel himself to the ground. The second he touched down, he launched himself towards Sakura, gently catching her in his arms then landing with ease, "Are you okay?"

"H-Hai!" Sakura said as she looked up at Naruto before she was set on her feet, "Uzumaki-kun, what are you doing here?"

"Trying to catch dinner." Naruto said as he pointed to the bird, "What about you?"

"We're trying to catch it too. But…" Sakura looked to the bird nervously as it roosted on a shine gate.

Naruto turned to the bird as well before what Sakura had said clicked in his mind, "Wait, we?"

"She means me!" Kero said as he floated down into Naruto's view, "Now stay out of the way or you'll get hurt!"

"What?" Naruto shouted, grabbing Kero with one hand, "I'm a full-blown Shinobi! Like hell I'm going to listen to a damn flying talking plushy!"

"What did you say?" Kero shouted back before biting down onto Naruto's hand. Naruto quickly let go of Kero, shaking his hand around wildly trying to get Kero off.

Sakura gasped before quickly snatching Kero off of Naruto's hand, "Kerberos! Don't bite Naruto! He might be able to help us!"

Naruto rubbed his hand sorely before looking back at the two, "I don't understand what's going on, but I'll help. Just tell me what to do."

"Hoe?" Sakura said before realizing what Naruto had said, "You'll help? Thank you!" She shouted, quickly hugging Naruto as anime tears cried from her eyes, "I was afraid I would have to do this alone!"

Naruto blinked confused by Sakura before turning to Kero as he patted Sakura's back, "So what do you need me to do?"

Kero growled, but nodded with Sakura's decision for help all the same, "We need to restrain the card… But with only the WINDY card that will be difficult…"

Naruto smirked as he pulled Sakura away, "So I just have to tie the bird up? Easy!" Naruto boasted before taking off to the FLY card. As he did he turned around to Sakura, "Get ready!"

Sakura and Kero nodded before Kero turned to Sakura, "Sakura, use the key! Do just as I told you earlier!"

Sakura nodded before she pulled the key out of her pocket. She opened her hand, letting it lay flat in her palm as she said, "The key which hides the powers of the Dark!" She started as the key floated into the air while being surrounded by a small ball of light and Clow Reed's magic circle appeared around her, "Show your true powers before me! I, Sakura, command you under our contract! RELEASE!" Sakura yelled finishing the spell. The light that surrounded the key expanded around Sakura as the key grew into a staff. Sakura grabbed staff when it finished forming causing the light to disperse. Sakura twirled the staff in her hand after the light vanished, holding it close to her.

"All right Sakura!" Kero said as he flew next to her, "The FLY card is attributed to wind. You should be able to capture it with the WINDY card you have now. But we'll have to get closer too.."

"Yeah!" Naruto's shout came from the FLY card's direction. Sakura and Kero turned to see not one, but five Naruto's riding FLY as it flew over them, trying to get the Naruto's off.

Sakura and Kero both sweat dropped as they watched in disbelief, "Did you just see…?" Sakura started to ask.

Kero nodded as he shared the same look as Sakura, "Yeah… Just who is that kid?"

Sakura smiled nervously as she sweat dropped again, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you…"

"Are you going to catch this thing or not?" One of the Naruto's shouted as FLY flew by again.

Sakura and Kero snapped back to reality and quickly started to chase after the card. Meanwhile Naruto was putting his plan into action as he climbed down the rope while his clones kept FLY's attention carefully forming a ram sign while holding the rope, "Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" Another clone appeared on Naruto's feet, using chakra to stick to him. Naruto smiled as his clone nodded and the two started to swing back and forth on the rope, "One! Two! THREE!" They said before the clone released the chakra while kicking Naruto with all it's might before dispelling. This allowed Naruto to swing to the top of the FLY card with the rope in hand. When he landed he turned to the rest of his clones, "Alright! Hit the wings!"

The clones nodded before separating as they jumped to FLY's wings. The sudden weight on its wings forced it to fold them in, falling right into Naruto's hands. The second it's wings tucked in, Naruto dived off FLY's side using his momentum and rope to swing back over FLY. Soon Naruto had the rope tied around FLY's wings, sending it crashing to the ground. Naruto smirked as his clones dispelled while he held the rope tight, pulling it to prevent FLY from escaping, "I told you I would get you!"

Sakura skated up to FLY staring at it in amazement, "A-amazing…. He took it down so easily…"

"Sakura, be amazed later! We have to capture it before it escapes!" Kero shouted as he pointed back to the card. FLY was thrashing about on the ground trying to get free as Naruto struggled to hold the rope.

Sakura nodded, moving in to seal the card away only to have to jump back, nearly being crushed by FLY's head. Sakura stumbled backwards for a moment before turning to Kero, "It's no good! I can't get close enough to seal it away!"

"Then use WINDY to hold down FLY! Hurry before the kid loses his grip!" Kero told her as he tried to shield his face from the dirt being blown around by the wind from FLY's thrashing about.

Sakura nodded and pulled the card out of her pajama pocket, "I hope this works!" She thought as she threw the card out in front of her then starting to spin her staff around, "Wind, become a bind chain and hold down FLY to prevent it from harming anyone!" Sakura chanted before holding her staff over her head, "WINDY!" She shouted as she swung the tip of her staff onto the card.

The wind suddenly came to life as WINDY came out of the card. WINDY quickly flew over to FLY, wrapping itself completely around the card before embedding itself into the ground. Naruto watched as FLY was completely subdued before letting go of the rope he was using and jumping away from the cards, "Sakura it's all yours!" Naruto shouted between his panting, "Why am I so tired?"

Sakura nodded to Naruto before holding her staff up again, "Return to the guise that you were meant to be in! CLOW CARD!" Sakura shouted as she swung her staff overhead. A small light appeared on the tip of her staff before forming into the shape of a card. FLY and WINDY were both drawn into the card, losing their shape as they entered the light. When the cards were completely drawn in, the light faded away to reveal an actual card. Sakura dropped to her knees as the card floated into the air and over to Naruto, not even noticing as she cried, "I thought I was going to die!" Kero was too busy watching the FLY float over to Naruto as WINDY fell to Sakura's knees.

Naruto only stared at the card when it stopped in front of him before grabbing it gently. He walked over to Sakura and held it out to her, "This is yours, right?"

Kero seemed genuinely surprised by Naruto's action, "Hey, you didn't take a bump to the head when we weren't looking did you?"

Naruto cocked an eyebrow as he continued to hold the card out, "I'm fine. But I know what this card is and that it's not mine." Naruto said before kneeling down in front of Sakura and taking her hand. Sakura calmed down and stared at Naruto as Naruto turned her hand palm side up and put the card on it, "Besides, it seems to me she did a lot more than me." Naruto added with a foxy smile before standing back up while helping Sakura to her feet. Naruto's stomach then decided to remind him of something important as it let out a loud growl. Naruto quickly dropped to his butt holding his stomach, "I'm still hungry!"

"Oh yeah… you were planning to try and eat FLY…" Sakura said nervously before rubbing her head, "Sorry about that…"

Naruto grumbled before standing back up still rubbing his stomach, "Not your fault… I'll just have to try and catch some fish from the pond."

"Well before you do that…" Kero said before pointing to the card, "Why don't you and Sakura go for a ride?"

"Ride?" The two asked before looking down at the card curiously. Naruto then shook his head for a moment, "I'd rather not ride that thing for a third time…"

Kero blinked before laughing for a moment. He soon calmed down again, "You won't be riding FLY again. Sakura, touch the card with the tip of your staff."

Sakura nodded and obeyed, touching the staff to the card. The card glowed for a moment before the wing shaped part of the staff turned into actual wings. Sakura and Naruto stared at the staff in awe before Sakura looked to Kero. Kero nodded to Sakura, leaving her to mount the staff carefully. She then looked to Naruto, who looked unsure, "Are you coming Uzumaki-kun?"

Naruto looked a bit unsure but soon shrugged, "Why not. I could use a peaceful ride after today." Naruto mounted the staff behind Sakura, nodding to her when he had a firm grip.

Sakura nodded back then kicked off the ground as the wings on the staff flapped. The two were soon flying through the air with Kero next to them, "How is it? Doesn't it feel good?"

"Yeah!" Sakura agreed with a cheerful smile before looking over her shoulder to Naruto, "Isn't this amazing Uzumaki-kun?"

"It sure is…" Naruto said as he looked at the city below in amazement before adding, "By the way you can just call me Naruto."

"Okay Naruto-kun!" Sakura said happily before hearing Naruto's stomach. An awkward feeling filled the air as Naruto whined and held his stomach again. Sakura sweat dropped before she thought of an idea, "Hold on!" She said before diving out of the sky towards her house. Naruto tighten his hold on the staff at the sudden dive before Sakura landed on her roof. She returned her staff into its key state before turning to Naruto, "Wait here, I'll be back with something for you to eat." She whispered to him before opening her window.

"Rea-" Naruto started to shout only to have Sakura cover his mouth and nod, "Yes! But you have to be quiet! I can't wake my Father or Big brother!" Naruto nodded slowly which made Sakura uncover his mouth and say, "Wait here and stay quiet." She said before climbing into her room.

Naruto sighed before sitting down on the roof, turning to Kero, "So what's the deal with the weird cards?"

Kero crossed his arms with a hum before looking at Naruto, "Well… I'll make a deal with you. I'll tell you what's going on if you promise to help Sakura. I know she has magical talent and shows promise but after today…"

"You're worried it will eventually wear her down?" Naruto finished for Kero. Kero nodded with a sigh as Naruto pegged his thoughts. Naruto sighed as well before rubbing his head, "I want to make that promise but… I can't. I don't belong to this world. I don't know how long until I go back." Naruto said with a look of sorrow. He didn't want to abandon Sakura on her quest, but knew of the dangers that would eventually follow if he stayed.

"Will you at least help her while you can?" Kero asked, receiving a nod from Naruto, "Okay then. I'll start from the beginning. The bird you helped Sakura capture is a Clow card, a magical creation made by the create sorcerer Clow Reed, my previous master and maker. Each card has a different power in its own unique way. No two cards are the same although some are similar. Each card is alive. They have their own sense of awareness, of self. Without a master to direct them, they will act on their own accord. When the seal on them is broken… a catastrophe will befall this world…" Kero said as he floated down and sat next to Naruto, "That is why Clow created the book and sealed the cards inside along with me. I was meant to guard the books and prevent them from scattering."

"So how did they scatter?" Naruto asked curious on the matter.

"I… fell asleep while guarding the book." Kero said sheepishly as he rubbed his head, "Then Sakura found it while I was sleeping and accidently opened it with her magic. She read the WINDY card, activating its magic which scattered the cards."

"So those were the lights I saw shooting through the sky earlier…" Naruto muttered quietly as he remembered the lights shooting through the sky, "I thought it was a meteor shower." Naruto said with a loose chuckle.

"I'm back." Sakura said as she climbed out of her window with a plate of food, "I could only reheat our leftovers. I'm sor…" Sakura started only to stop as the plate disappeared from her hands. She blinked, staring at where the plate use to be before looking at Naruto to see him devouring the food. She watched as in mere seconds, the plate become empty. "A-amazing…" Sakura said as she blinked in disbelief.

Naruto held in a burp before smiling sheepishly, "Sorry about that… I haven't eaten for a day and a half and with all the chakra I burned, I was starving." Naruto said before he remembered something, "Hey Sakura… You said you had a dream about me when we were talking about in the park right?" Sakura nodded, wondering where the conversation was going as Naruto continued, "How much did you see?"

"Um… It started when you arrived at the Valley. Then it ended a bit after you were sucked into the hole." Sakura answered for Naruto as she grabbed her chin trying to remember the details, "That boy Uchiha returned to normal and was carried off by the man with the strange silver hair."

"So Kakashi found Sasuke… That's good. I was worried he might have gotten sucked in after me." Naruto said as he laid down on the roof as a wave of relief passed through him.

"They found your headband thing too." Sakura said as she hugged her knees together.

Naruto nodded to her as he started to stare at the night sky, "So they know I'm alive. Then there's no telling how long until I go home."

"I see…" Sakura said in a saddened tone. In the small time she had gotten to know the strange boy next to her she had started to see him as a good friend, mainly for all the help he gave her.

Naruto sat back up with a smile, "Well I'm sure I'll be here for a while anyway. So we might as well make the most of the time I got here." He said hopping to his feet, "You should go get some sleep Sakura. It's been a busy night."

Sakura tilted her head before letting out a long yawn, "You're right… I'm exhausted."

Naruto chuckled before looking around at the city, "I have to admit, this is an interesting place. Although I'll need some new clothes…" Naruto said pulling at his now even more torn jumpsuit only to have the entire jacket fall apart, "Ah great! Now I really need to get some new clothes…" Naruto said, not aware that Sakura was staring at the many bandages covering Naruto's upper body.

"Just how hurt were you Naruto-kun…"

"Wow the kid really took a beating… and he still managed to hold his own against FLY."

Sakura looked away from the bandages, upset that she couldn't help until an idea popped in her head, "I got it!" She said, getting Naruto's and Kero's attention, "Naruto-kun, meet me after school tomorrow. I have an idea to get you some new clothes!"

"Really? This won't cost you anything will it?" Naruto asked, not wanting to mooch of Sakura.

Sakura shook her head with a cheerful smile, "Don't worry!" She said before letting out another yawn,

Naruto caught the second yawn and helps Sakura to her feet, "Okay I think we've talked enough for today. Go get some sleep. I'll meet at your school tomorrow, I promise." Naruto said as he punched his chest.

Sakura nodded and climbed back into her room rubbing her eye, "Good-bye Naruto-kun. See you tomorrow."

Naruto waved to her as she climbed into her room but before she could close it she heard Naruto ask, "Sakura, do you mind if I call you Sakura-chan?"

Sakura smiled softly and nodded, "Of course Naruto-kun." She said before closing the window. Kero waved from behind the window before floating out of sight.

Naruto sighed after he heard the window lock and looked to the sky, "Just what the hell did I get myself into? Ero-sennin was right… I can't help but get myself in some sort of trouble…" Naruto said before taking off into the night to find a place to sleep.

**Well that's the first chapter of the experiment. Let me know how it goes.**

**I didn't have Sakura learn of what happens when someone else subdues the card yet since it was the first card and she would be more concerned with adjusting to it all then the card XD**

**Let's see… what else.**

**Oh! For those who plan to ask "What about the fox traits" or "Why didn't he contact Kyuubi yet". Well I will tell it is coming! But later! You'll see what evil concoction my mind has made XD**

**Also, he's not panicking about being in another world because he made sure the others know he's alive. He's just waiting for the message… Then he'll panic. XD**

**Nothing else comes to mind so…**

**PLEASE READ, ENJOY, AND REVIEW!**


	2. SHADOWs of doubt

**Wow I got a LOT of positive reviews on the experimental run. So far so good. Let's see if I can keep it going! Two more chapters before final judgment call on this XD**

**I'm had people ask me to not delete the original Fox and Cards. Well I didn't plan on deleting it until after the final verdict, depending on the verdict… but if you all really don't want me to I won't. It's just going to sit there though. I doubt I'll resume it.**

**Also, I will not be taking input from ****Anonymous reviews on which to continue. It's not to discredit people who use anonymous reviewers, it's just that I have no way to contact them and get more personal insight on any issues that may arise. Plus all my flames have been by anonymous (cowards). I leave anonymous open for those that either aren't allowed to make an account on Fanfiction or don't have one, not to be flamed by people too chicken to use their account or use the name of someone else's account to avoid being found.**

**One last thing. So far only one person has gotten it right why Naruto's chakra is out of whack right now XD I will be PMing that person to inform them of this when I post this chapter. So if you aren't PMed… well you weren't the person then XD**

Regular speech

_Thoughts _

**Demon speech**

_**Demon thought**_

(Author notes)

**I don't own Naruto or Card Captor Sakura**

"Uhhh…" Naruto groaned as sat up, only to realize something was wrong. He wasn't in the same place where he had fallen asleep. The sewer walls and water that covered his legs clued him in to where he was. Naruto sighed as he stood up, "So Kyuubi finally decided to call… Better go see just what the fuzz ball wants." Naruto said to himself as he started to trek the hallways of his mind.

As Naruto walked, he noticed that it was starting to get hot, something he had never felt before in his mind. Naruto whipped the sweat off his brows as he turned down a corridor, "What's going on…? Why is it so hot?" He asked himself while starting to fan himself with his hand. He stopped as he came to a four0way corridor and looked at each way, "Which way now…?" His question was answered as all the corridors disappeared as the walls sank into the ground.

Naruto immediately started feel like something was wrong as he started to look around at the darkness. The darkness was suddenly illuminated by a blazing torrent of fire, surrounding him completely. Naruto shielded his eyes from the light and heat before trying to look at the fire, only to gasp in shock. It was Tomoeda, set ablaze and burning to the ground. Naruto turned around to look away, only to be shocked to see Konoha in that direction. He couldn't believe what he was seeing, "No… This… This can't be happening!" Naruto shouted, preparing to leap into Konoha.

"Naruto-kun…" A soft voice said, stopping Naruto in his tracks. He slowly turned around to see Sakura, covered in blood and bandages standing behind him in tears, "Why… Why did you do this? Why did you kill everyone?" She shouted at him as her voice cracked. She grabbed at the elbow of her long sleeve shirt revealing that she was missing half of her arm.

Naruto shook his head as he stepped away from Sakura, "No… I didn't… I wouldn't do this!" He shouted as he reached out for Sakura, only to watch her step further back from him. Before he could say more, a kunai cut his cheek and embedded itself in the ground from behind him. Naruto slowly turned around to see most of the people he cared for all standing their, ready to kill him. He only stared at them all in shock as he quietly asked, "What… Why is this happening…?"

"Like you don't know you monster!" Sakura Hanuro shouted as she held her kunai pointed at him next to Kakashi.

Kakashi pulled his Hitae-ate up, revealing his Sharingan as he pulled out his own kunai, "We will erase you from this world demon!"

"What are you talking about? It's me! Naruto!" Naruto tried to plea only to feel a kunai embed in his arm from Tsunade.

Tsunade glared at Naruto with a murderous stare, "Don't use his name again Kyuubi! Or so help me you will wish you were in hell when I finish with you!"

"We'll send you there right now!" Jiraiya shouted as he formed a Rasengan.

"Why do you keep saying things like that? I'm not Kyuubi!" Naruto shouted only to stop as movement caught his eye. He slowly looked down to see a furry tail that reached around his leg to behind his body. Naruto quickly grabbed the tail and tugged it, confirming it was attached to his rear end. He froze with shock for a moment before quickly reaching for his head, only to feel to furry ears coming out of his scalp. He slowly moved his to in front of his face where he saw his clawed nails. He stared at his hands only to suddenly hear what sounded a thousand birds chirping. "Chidori…" He muttered as he looked back up to see everyone had parted ways to reveal Sasuke with a Chidori ready for use.

Sasuke looked up with his Sharingan blaring, but his eyes held remorse as he said, "Don't worry Naruto… I'll lay your soul to rest soon… By killing the Kyuubi for you!" Sasuke shouted as he charged Naruto with the intent of ending his life.

Naruto tried to move out of the way, only to find himself stuck. He looked down to see WINDY holding him in place. Naruto turned his head around to see Sakura holding her staff out with her hand as tears formed on the edge of her eyes, "I sorry… but we don't have a choice…"

Naruto couldn't believe what he was seeing as he looked from Sakura to the charging Sasuke, "No…" Time slowed to a stand still as Sasuke was an inch from Naruto with his Chidori stretched out while Sakura turned away, "NO! STOP! I'M NOT THE KYUUBI!" Naruto screamed at the top of his lungs just as the world around him collapsed.

Everything faded into nothing, leaving Naruto to fall into the endless abyss of darkness.

Naruto's scream echoed into the night sky as he shot up panting heavily as sweat rolled down his face. He quickly surveyed his surroundings and sighed in relief as he saw he was still in the penguin park, "It was just a nightmare… A really bad nightmare…" Naruto said quietly as he whipped the sweat off his forehead with his arm. He hopped to his feet and dusted the dirt off as he looked at the tree he was sleeping in before his nightmare, "I must have fallen out when I was sleeping." He said as he noticed what looked like claw marks in both the tree and dirt. He jumped to a different branch to get a better look only to gasp in surprise. There were chakra burns on the branch he was sleeping on. Naruto blinked before hopping out of the tree, sticking his hands in what remained of his pockets and started to walk away, "Did I… tap into Kyuubi's chakra when I was sleeping…? But… how?" Naruto asked himself as he started to pace around the park. When he couldn't think of any answers, he shook his head, "Damn it why can't I come up with an answer?" With a depressing sigh he hung his head, _"I'm not getting anywhere… I'll worry about it later. I have to meet up with Sakura-chan."_ Naruto thought as he looked around the park for another second, _"Good, no one around."_

Naruto prepared to jump to a nearby tree when he suddenly heard, "Naruto-kun?" The voice broke Naruto's concentration causing him to face plant the ground as his foot slipped during launch of the jump.

The voice giggled as Naruto sat up again rubbing his nose, "What gives?" He asked as he turned around to see Sakura standing at the park entrance near by, laughing at Naruto's accident. Naruto grumbled to himself as he stood up, "Geez you couldn't have let me know you were standing there a bit sooner?"

Sakura giggled again as she skated up to meet Naruto halfway, "Gomen. I didn't mean to sneak up on you." She said before noticing the small amount of sweat left on Naruto as well as a small lack of color on his face, "Are you okay?" She asked, placing a hand on his forehead to check for a fever.

Naruto blushed at the sudden contact as he moved Sakura's hand away, "I'm fine. Just had a nightmare… Come on let's get to your school before people start to leave their house."

Sakura nodded as she and Naruto started to the school, "Want to talk about it?" She asked concerned, seeing as Naruto didn't scare easily as far as she could tell.

"No… I'd really just rather forget about it… But I doubt I'll be able too." Naruto said as he walked next to her while keeping pace easily.

Sakura looked a bit surprised this time, "Was it really that bad?"

"It was my worst fear coming to life Sakura-chan. Hopefully, I never have to worry about that." Naruto said as started to rub his shoulder, "I think I landed on my shoulder when I fell out of that tree…"

"EH? You were sleeping in a tree?" Sakura asked even more surprised by this then the Naruto having a nightmare.

Naruto only raised an eyebrow to her, "Of course. Where else did you expect me to sleep?"

Sakura laughed nervously as she rubbed the back of her head, "To be honest… I thought you would have sleep at the school in one of the classrooms. Since they leave the building unlocked after closing the gate."

The echo of Naruto slapping his forehead rode on the wind as he said, "Why didn't I think of that?"

Sakura sweat dropped at Naruto's actions as her smile twitched nervously, _"Sometimes… It's hard to believe he's such a good fighter…"_ She thought to herself before letting her gaze wander down to Naruto's bandaged torso, then remembered the plan she had come up with last night, "Oh yeah! Naruto-kun, about your clothes. We're going to need to talk to a close friend of mine."

"Oh yeah? Who?" Naruto asked as he jumped onto a wall gate as they continued to the school.

"Tomoyo-chan. She is the one that sits next to me." Sakura told him as she looked to see him on the wall, "She makes me clothes from time to time. Since we don't have enough money and a lot of people will question why you don't have another set of clothes…"

"Sorry…" Naruto said in a sheepish manner while rubbing his head

"As long as we can make up a good enough excuse, we should be fine. But…" Sakura stopped, looking away from Naruto to the ground.

Naruto caught on to Sakura's hesitation to finish her sentence, "You don't want to lie to her do you?"

"Of course not! But I don't know what else to do…" Sakura snapped before looking down again, "I'm already keeping the Clow cards a secret from my family… I doubt they would believe me anyway…"

"Maybe. You won't know until you tell them. Besides if they don't believe you when you tell them you can just show them." Naruto said as they drew closer to the school, "Speaking of honesty, why not tell your friend?"

Sakura blinked a couple times before giving Naruto a stare of disbelief, "And how would I tell her about how I have to collect a deck of magical cards with the help of a guardian from a book and a kid from another world?"

"Um… Just like that?" Naruto asked with the raise of an eyebrow, "It's not like telling her will put her in danger. Plus she could help cover for you incase of any sudden card attacks that happen in the middle of school, friend gathering, and so on." Naruto explained as he hopped off the fence wall as they approached the school.

"I guess that makes sense… But how would I make her believe me?" Sakura asked only to receive the same stare she had given Naruto a moment ago from him, "Oh right… You can just do that copy move…"

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." Naruto corrected her as he hopped over the school fence as Sakura passed through the open gate.

"Jutsu…" Sakura mumbled as she slowed to a stop at the locker room door, "I remember reading about that in history class once… Jutsu was called ninjutsu after the ninja's that used the techniques to hide themselves or escape."

"Seems like your world had ninjutsu at one point" Naruto said as he walked into the locker room behind Sakura.

Sakura sweat dropped again as she explained, "Not really… It was really just smoke bombs and camouflage. They couldn't make copies of themselves like you can."

"They're clones actually." Naruto pointed out before adding on to the conversation, "But in a nut shell those are some of the basics of ninjutsu. It's broken down into Ninjutsu, which are techniques like my Kage Bunshin. Genjutsu, which revolves around illusions. Taijutsu, hand to hand combat. There are others but they're mainly just different branches of ninjutsu."

"Hoe… That's a lot different from what happened in my history. So what can you do Naruto-kun?" Sakura asked as she sat down to take off her skates.

Naruto leaned on the lockers as he grinned sheepishly, "Well… to be perfectly honest, I can't do any genjutsu… Illusions that use chakra just aren't my talent… The only five ninjutsu I know how to perform are the Henge, Kawari, Kage Bunshin, Kuchiyose, and Rasengan. Kakashi-sensei once said my taijutsu was unrefined, but could hold its own."

"Who is Kakashi-san?" Sakura asked as she started to put her skates and pads into the locker.

Naruto blinked in surprise before smiling again, "He's my team leader. He trained us in techniques. Well he's only taught me and my other teammate the tree climbing exercise. He spent more time on Sasuke then us."

"He doesn't sound like much of a sensei to me." Sakura said as she closed her locker door.

Naruto shrugged as he pushed off the lockers walked up next to Sakura, "Well… He was always three hours late to the meetings and read a dirty book all the time. But I have a feeling he wasn't trying to blow us off on purpose. I think he was trying to get Sasuke to not leave the village in his own way."

"But it didn't work…" Sakura said quietly as she looked back to Naruto.

Again Naruto shrugged, "Yeah but if Kakashi-sensei hadn't done things the way he did, I probably wouldn't met Ero-sennin and have learned how to summon or use the Rasengan. So in the end it worked out for me." He said as the two made their way to the classroom.

"I suppose…" Sakura said quietly before the topic of the conversation caused something to click in her mind, "Wait, if you can do ninjutsu then that means you come from a world of ninjas right?" She asked excitedly as the image set in her mind.

"Yeah, although we're technically called Shinobi." Naruto told her as he opened the door to the classroom for her.

Sakura turned around confused after she walked through the door, "Shinobi…? Why are you called human tool?"

"Well… That's not the proudest part of my world's history…" Naruto said sheepishly as he followed her into the room while shutting the door, "That's what the some villages considered their ninja. Tools to be used and cast away when they were no longer of use…"

"That's horrible!" Sakura shouted when she heard this, "How can people treat other people like that?"

"A lot easier then you think…" Naruto said under his breath while lowering his head to hide the pain in his eyes.

Sakura heard Naruto muttering as she watched her friend. "Naruto-kun?" She asked when she saw Naruto's unusual action before realization set in, "You were treated like that… weren't you?"

Naruto grimaced when he saw his actions were affecting Sakura, "Oh no! My village was one of the ones that valued every member. Civilian and Shinobi alike!" Naruto said cheerfully while masking his pain, _"It's true… I wasn't treated like a tool… I was treated far worse... But for a reason no one needs to know about."_

"That's good. I didn't want to believe someone as nice as you was treated badly." Sakura said with a smile before walking over to her desk.

"_Don't worry Sakura-chan… You'll never know what I went through…"_ Naruto thought as he walked over to Sakura's desk only to stop and turn to the door, "Someone's coming…" He said before disappearing as the door started to open.

"Hoe?" Was all Sakura said as she turned just in time to see Naruto disappear and the door start to open.

"You're here early, Sakura-chan." A soft voice said as she walked in.

Sakura smiled at the person who walked in, "Good morning Tomoyo-chan! You're here early too!" She said before tilting her head slightly, "Are you in charge of something too?"

"No I am not." Tomoyo said as she smiled back to Sakura before pulling out her camcorder, "I just wanted to show you something Sakura-chan." Sakura nodded and sat back down as Tomoyo set down the camera while turning it on, "I was able to film something extremely amusing last night." She said before pressing the play button then moving out of the way.

Sakura watched the video with curiosity evident in her eyes before catching a glimpse of two human shapes flying in front of the crescent moon. _"It… It couldn't be…" _Sakura thought as her face went blank with a slight embarrassed blush, "What was that…?"

"This is an enlargement." Tomoyo said as she pressed another button on camera. The video started again this time showing a clear image of Sakura and Naruto riding on her staff with Kero near by. Sakura's face went from blank to shock to a nervous smile as what she was seeing registered in her mind. It wasn't long before she shot out of her seat screaming before going into a freezing completely.

Hearing Sakura's scream caused a second surprise that day as Kero burst out of Sakura's bag, "What's wrong, Sakura?" He asked before looking around the classroom frantically, "A Clow card? Where! I'll take it on! Come on!" He ranted before noticing Tomoyo standing across the desk.

Tomoyo stared at creature that came out of Sakura's bag for a second before looking back to the camera video screen to see the same creature flying next to her and the unknown boy. She looked back to Kero before clapping her hands together in happiness, "My, a striking resemblance!"

Tomoyo was so caught up in Kero's sudden appearance that she never noticed her camera simply vanish without a trace. That is until she heard, "Well I guess I don't need to hide anymore." Tomoyo blinked and looked around for the source of the voice, only to see no one else in the room. "Up here." The voice said, causing both Tomoyo and Kero to look up to see Naruto standing on the ceiling, holding the camcorder, "Yo, my name is Uzumaki Naruto!" He said before tossing her camera down to her.

Tomoyo caught the camera before looking back up at Naruto, "So you're the mystery boy that was riding with Sakura-chan. But why?"

"Well… That's Sakura-chan's call whether or not to tell you. All I can say is I'm helping her with her problem. If she tells you what it is, then I'll tell you about me." Naruto said before dropping to the floor then looking out the window, "Seems some of the other early birds are starting to arrive. I'd better get out of here before someone sees me." Naruto before walking over to Sakura and tapping her on the head, "Hey Sakura-chan, wake up." He said as he tapped her, eventually bringing her back to Earth, "I'm going to head out before I get caught. I'll meet you behind the building during lunch okay?" Sakura blinked for a second before nodding, leaving Naruto to exit through the window.

When he was gone, Tomoyo smiled as she put a finger to her cheek, "My, you've made an interesting friend Sakura-chan."

Sakura only chuckled nervously as a sweat drop appeared, "You have no idea…"

Hours later, the two girls walked out behind the building for lunch. They made their way over to a shady patch of grass, being shielded from the sun by a few trees scattered around. Sakura and Tomoyo both looked around as they waited for Naruto, only to never see him arrive. Tomoyo turned back to Sakura after a minute of no luck trying to find Naruto, "He did say he would meet us behind this building correct?"

"Yeah… But he didn't say exactly where…" Sakura responded before feeling a small acorn dropped on her head. Sakura winced from the small sting as she reached for the spot where the acorn landed before looking up. That's when she spotted him. Naruto was in the tree, snoozing away as he waited for Sakura and Tomoyo. Sakura smiled before opening her bag, letting Kero float out, "Kerberos, I need you to go wake Naruto-kun up. He's sleeping in the tree above us."

Kero yawned as floated out of the bag while listening to Sakura, "Alright… But you have to give me a piece of your dessert." Kero said before flying up to Naruto, ignoring Sakura's look of displeasure. After reaching Naruto's altitude, he started to tap Naruto on his head, "Hey! Wake up Naruto! The girls are waiting for you!" Naruto's response was swatting Kero like a snooze button on an alarm clock.

A tick mark appeared on Kero's head as he flew back up to Naruto, "Why you…" He then smiled evilly as he took a deep breath before shouting right in Naruto's ear, "WAKE UP BAKA NINJA!"

Naruto shot up awake from the shout while also losing his balance on the tree branch. The girls looked away as they heard Naruto come crashing down through the tree branches before hitting the ground with a thud. Sakura and Tomoyo looked back to see Naruto staring off into space with swirly eyes as his legs dangled over his head. The two hurried to Naruto's side, kneeling down next to him as Sakura asked, "Naruto-kun are you okay?"

"I want pork with my ramen…" Naruto muttered as Sakura and Tomoyo rolled Naruto off his head. The two girls wound up giggling to Naruto's comment as he shook his head to clear out the daze. The second he stopped he grabbed the top of his head looking confused, "What happened… I was in the tree is the last thing I remember."

"You fell asleep." Sakura said as she walked over and helped Naruto stand up, "I had Kerberos fly up into the tree and wake you up but… He shouted at you then you fell out of the tree…" She said nervously as a sweat drop rolled down the back of her head.

Naruto shrugged about to forgive Kero but he heard Kero's smart mouth go off with, "I never knew a baka ninja could be such a heavy sleeper and clumsy at once…"

"HEY! Say that again you undersized stuff toy!" Naruto shouted as he grabbed a nearby acorn and beamed Kero in the face with it. (Size ratio: Kero being hit with an acorn is like a human being hit with a baseball.)

Kero looked down just in time to see the acorn before it slammed into the side of his face, sending him spiraling down to the ground unconscious. Sakura quickly ran under Kero, catching him before he hit the ground, "Kerberos, are you okay?" Kero simply muttered complete non-sense before going limp. Sakura turned to send Naruto with a stern glare, "Naruto-kun you shouldn't hurt Kerberos like that!"

"He'll be fine. Not like anyone has ever died from an acorn." Naruto said with a wave of his hand.

"Naruto-san, Sakura-chan, do you mind helping me spread the blanket?" Tomoyo asked, completely defusing the situation as she held out a folded pink blanket. Naruto and Sakura nodded, taking an end of the blanket and pulling it to where it was laying flat on the ground.

A few minutes later everyone was sitting on the blanket getting ready to enjoy lunch. Kero woke up while they were setting up the blanket. Sakura had gotten over the earlier incident, now more concerned that Kero was there, "Why did you come anyway?"

Kero rubbed his head as it was still sore from the acorn, "Well, I wanted to get a glimpse of how the Card captor usually spends her day."

Sakura only sighed as she passed Naruto the extra bento she had asked her Otou to make the day before. Naruto decided to simply eat in silence, still glaring at Kero while Tomoyo looked at him and Kero with stars in her eyes before turning to Sakura, "If you don't mind, would you like to introduce us?"

Sakura pointed to Naruto first, "This is Uzumaki Naruto-kun, a shinobi from another world." Naruto gave a quick wave with his chop sticks before going back to his food.

"He introduced himself earlier. I forgot to mention that." Tomoyo said sweetly before looking back to Kero.

Sakura nodded before looking to Kero, "He says his name is Kerberos…"

Tomoyo leaned in closer to Kero who was sporting a cheerful smile, "He sure looks different from his name."

"He's more of a "Kero-chan"." Sakura said happily, getting both Tomoyo's and Naruto's agreement.

"Do call me like I'm some frog!" Kero shouted pointing at everyone.

Naruto gave Kero a blank stare as he lowered his chop sticks, "Hey! Two of my closest friends are frogs! Well technically toads but…" Naruto started to say before Kero fell over laughing. Naruto smiled at Kero's laughing as he added, "Did I forget to mention one of them is the size of a mountain with a dagger to match his size? I'd hate to see what he would do to you Kero when I tell him you laughed at him."

Both Sakura and Kero paled at the thought of a giant toad appearing in the middle of the city. Tomoyo put her finger to her chin in thought at the image, "My, that would be interesting…"

Tomoyo's comment made Naruto laugh before saying, "Not when he has a temper as big as he is. He'd probably throw me across Japan if I summoned him here. So I don't think I'll be trying that unless absolutely necessary."

Sakura's and Kero's sigh of relief was heard just before Sakura said, "Don't scare us like that Naruto-kun! Keeping you a secret would be impossible if you did that!" Naruto simply waved off Sakura's concern of his secrecy as Sakura suddenly remembered her plan from that morning as she turned to Tomoyo, "Oh yeah! Tomoyo-chan, can you help Naruto-kun? He needs some new clothes and we can't afford any…" She said nervously as she started to scratch hear head again, "I was hoping you could make him a set to get by in until we can get him some more."

Tomoyo hummed quietly before standing up, "Naruto-kun, do you mind standing up so that I may take a look at you?"

"Um… sure." Naruto said as he set down his bento box and chop sticks before standing up for Tomoyo. Tomoyo circled around Naruto with her finger on her chin, pausing every few seconds to look Naruto up and down before resuming her walk. Naruto looked a bit uncomfortable being eyed by Tomoyo.

Tomoyo finished her circle and paused staring at Naruto for another minute before smiling with a clap of her hands, "I'll have it ready by tomorrow morning! I'll get your measurements this afternoon after school." Tomoyo said happily to the two.

"Really?" Naruto asked a little surprised as he sat back down, "You don't have to rush, I can wait a couple days you know."

"That won't do. With only dirty bandages covering your chest you won't have much protection if they tear. Plus I heard from Chiharu that the nurse has started to lock up her supplies after noticing that she had less bandages then normal. You won't be able to keep taking them at this rate." Tomoyo informed the two, getting a nod in response before adding, "Also I can't deny an urgent request from Sakura-chan."

"It's not that urgent…" Sakura said with a sweat drop as she thought _"Naruto-kun lasted two days without a shirt… I don't think another couple of days would matter…"_ Sakura didn't know that Naruto was mentally agreeing with her by thinking along the same lines.

"Hey, hey! What about me?" Kero shouted at Sakura after being silent for minutes, "I wouldn't mind a little something to wear! I am the guardian of the Clow cards after all!"

Naruto sighed raising his hand to smack Kero's ego again when Tomoyo suddenly asked, "Clow Cards?"

Naruto sighed, knowing Kero would get started on the history of the Clow cards when he felt something. He turned to the school building, not aware the feeling was coming from the court yard on the other side of the building, _"What was that…?"_ He thought as he looked around at the building. When he didn't see anything out of the ordinary he shrugged, _"I guess I'm just anxious…"_

Tomoyo's question was all that was needed to get Kero started on the history of the Clow cards with the events from the day before as well. When he finished, he hit a chopsticks case he was holding to Sakura's bento lid, "And so, Sakura became Cardcaptor Sakura!"

While this was happening, Sakura and Naruto had simply resumed eating their lunch. Tomoyo clapped softly at the end of the tail, "That's wonderful!" She said before turning away from the group with stars in her eyes, "The Cardcaptor that protects the city from the catastrophes of the Clow Cards with her ninja friend from another world!" This caused Sakura to pause her eating to look at Tomoyo as she folded her hands together and waved them from side to side, "That is so awesome!"

Sakura waved her hand casually in front of her face as she said, "I can't do something that important."

"You did pretty good last night for someone being thrown into that situation in a few hours." Naruto said pointing at her with his chop sticks only to have Sakura give him a "you're not helping" glare.

"He's right! You can do it Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo said as she quickly grabbed one of Sakura's hands with both of hers, "If you don't mind, can you show me how you use your magic?"

"Yeah, yeah! Show her!" Kero said cheerfully ignoring Sakura skeptical gasp.

"But…" Sakura said turning to Naruto for support. Naruto only shrugged, not seeing a way out of the situation.

"It's all right, there's no problem. Nobody's watching." Kero pointed out since they were behind the building with no one around, "Do a flashy little one!"

Sakura looked to Naruto again before sighing. She stood up and walked over to the grass before pulling out the key. A wind blew as she opened her hand, letting the key rest in her palm, "The key which hides the power of the dark! Show your true form before me! I, Sakura, command you under our contract! RELEASE!" She recited as the key was consumed by the sphere of light before transforming into the staff at the end of the chant.

Sakura let out the breath she had held when she finished her spell as Tomoyo stood up with her hands folded together, "You are able to use magic with this staff?"

Sakura turned back to Tomoyo gripping the staff with both hands, "Yeah, although I need a card."

"Like this!" Kero said as he pulled out the FLY card from Sakura's bag.

"W-When did you…" Sakura started to ask surprised at the card.

Tomoyo walked up to Sakura with her hands still folded as she happily asked, "So, do you have a trademark pose yet?"

Sakura quickly went from shocked to only being able to ask, "W-Why?"

Tomoyo turned away from Sakura as the stars returned to her eyes, "Trademark poses and spells are the basic parts of being a magical girl!"

Tomoyo's words sent Sakura for a loop as Naruto walked over to her and whispered, "Is she always like this?"

Sakura didn't get a chance to answer as the bell ending lunch rang through out the school. Sakura quickly made the staff revert to its key state before she and Tomoyo rushed to clean up their spot. With a promise to meet Naruto in the same place after school the two ran into the building, leaving Kero with Naruto. Kero only blinked as the girls disappeared before asking, "So… what now?"

Naruto looked to Kero as his stomach growled. He grabbed with his one hand before saying, "Well I don't know about you but I'm raiding the cafeteria since lunch is over." He said before leaping to the top of the building.

"Hey wait for me!" Kero shouted after Naruto following after him only to find it extremely difficult to keep up with the shinobi.

Meanwhile Sakura and Tomoyo were going through their class work normally. That is until a teacher opened the door interrupting the lesson, "Hey! We need you to help catch this kid wearing bandages around his head! He just stole food from the cafeteria!"

"You'll never catch me!" A familiar voice to Sakura and Tomoyo shouted in the hall as a blue sandal wearing foot used the teacher's head that had opened the door as a stepping stone. The teacher fell to the ground as a group of teachers chase after the kid.

Sakura only stared in disbelief at what she had seen before her head hit her desk, "Why…"

"It seems Naruto has a bigger appetite then we thought." Tomoyo said watching the scene amused as the current teacher announced study hall before chasing after Naruto with the others.

The day went by normally after Naruto's raid, who escaped easily after leading the teachers on a two hour long chase for fun. Sakura and Tomoyo had met up with Naruto and Kero behind the building as promised, but instead of smiling when they met, Sakura scolded the two, "What were you thinking? What if they caught you or called the police?"

"They couldn't catch me unless they hired real ninja." Naruto said with a shrug as he walked on the fence next to the girls, "Besides, I only took what I needed and they just throw it out anyway. Plus everyone thinks is the "revenge of the school ghost" so no harm done." Naruto said before laughing to himself, "This could be fun."

Sakura was about to argue before sighing, seeing it was hopeless to argue with a ninja, "Just… try not to hurt anyone okay?"

"I won't hurt them physically. But I did see a few egos that could use some bruising." Naruto said before smiling evilly as the wheels in his mind started to turn.

Tomoyo only watched the two with an amused smile while forming Naruto's new clothes in her mind. It wasn't long before they reached Sakura's house. Naruto looked to the car and bike in the driveway before saying, "I'll be waiting outside your bedroom window. I'd meet your folks Sakura-chan but I think I should be better dressed." The got a laugh from the girls as Naruto jumped to the roof and awaited entry as Sakura and Tomoyo went inside with Kero acting like a plushy.

Minutes later Sakura opened the window for Naruto. Naruto hopped into the room without making a sound to see Tomoyo already had her measuring supplies, "Where did you get those?"

"I never leave home without them." Tomoyo said cheerfully before pulling Naruto over to the center of the room, "Stand still." She said while she unwrapped the bandages around Naruto's torso before moving behind him and wrapping the tape measure around his chest, "This will only take a minute." She said before seeing the large scar on the backside of Naruto's shoulder, _"Such a large scar… To receive such a wound and survive it. He must be a strong person." _Tomoyo thought to herself, not saying a word about the scar in respect for Naruto. **(I decided to meet halfway on this issue. Some people agree with the scars while others don't. So I gave him one large scar from his battle with Sasuke. That's my version of a compromise.)**

Naruto simply nodded and continued to allow Tomoyo to measure. He turned to Sakura only to see her looking away with a slight blush, "You okay Sakura-chan?"

"Y-yeah… I'm fine." She said meekly still looking away, _"I'm not fine! I have a boy in my room shirtless with the rest of his clothes looking like he came from a battlefield! If my Father or Big brother walks in…" _"Hoe…" Sakura quietly said before trying to shake her head of the negative thoughts. Once her head was clear she looked back to Naruto to see the same scar Tomoyo was looking at, only from the front_, "That scar… He got that from… what was his name… Sasuke? Come to think of it, they were fighting in my dream. I wonder why?"_ Sakura thought to herself before hearing Tomoyo say she was finished.

Tomoyo packed up her measuring supplies before putting her backpack on, "I should head home and get started right away if I want to make it by tomorrow morning like I promised."

Sakura nodded as she stood up to go see Tomoyo to the door before turning to Naruto, "Naruto-kun stay in here."

"Actually I was going to go to the edge of town to train." Naruto said grabbing his shoulder as he rolled it, "Yesterday something strange happened. I got tired a lot sooner then normal. So I figured I would go see what's wrong by seeing if I could figure it out by training."

Sakura looked reluctant to let Naruto leave, "Are you sure you don't want me to come? Just incase something happens?"

"I'll be fine." Naruto said as he climbed out the window with a wave. He quickly disappeared from sight leaving a worried Sakura with Tomoyo.

Tomoyo moved her gaze from the window to Sakura for a moment before smiling slightly, "You're worried about him, aren't you Sakura-chan?"

"You heard what he said… He said something strange happened." Sakura said as she looked to Tomoyo with concerned eyes, "What if that strange thing is bad and hurts him?"

Tomoyo nodded before taking Sakura's hand, "Well then let's get going. When we're outside you can use your magic to follow him." Sakura smiled as she followed Tomoyo out the front door with a simple excuse. The second Sakura's house was out of sight Sakura summoned her staff. She turned to Tomoyo who only nodded with a smile. Sakura nodded back, used the FLY card, and took off into the sky. Tomoyo waved her friend off before talking to herself, "I wonder how this will play out for you Sakura-chan. Will you find love or a friendship that will never end?" She said as she turned to walk to her house.

Sakura carefully flew through the sky, making sure not to be seen by anyone on the ground as she scanned the rooftops. After a minute of searching she spotted the blonde ninja making his way to the edge of town. She quickly gave chase after the blonde still being careful as to not be seen.

Naruto easily made it to the edge of town without being seen by a single person. He traveled through the forest surrounding the town to an abandoned rock quarry. He landed in the middle of the quarry and smiled at his luck, "Wow what luck! This will be the perfect training ground!" He said happily before forming his unique hand sign, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" A single clone appeared next to Naruto. The two nodded before the original held out his hand. The clone started to swirl chakra in Naruto's hand, forming a Rasengan. Naruto watched the Rasengan for a moment before smiling, "I guess nothing is wrong after all. I can still do…" Naruto stopped as the Rasengan suddenly dispersed.

Naruto stared in disbelief before he and his clone made another Rasengan, only to have it disperse again seconds later. "I don't get it… What's going on?" Naruto asked quietly before turning to a large rock sitting in the quarry. He turned to his clone, which nodded and help make one last Rasengan. When it was finished the two charged at the rock. Naruto thrusted the Rasengan into the rock, although it started to drill into the stone, it dispersed halfway through. Naruto only stared as his clone shrugged and dispelled itself. Naruto growled before sitting down with his arms crossed, "I don't get it… why is my jutsu cutting out halfway…?"

Unknown to Naruto, Sakura had landed silently nearby when he attacked the rock. There she only stared in shock and fear at the damage Naruto had easily caused, _"He… destroyed half of that rock with only that blue sphere…" _She thought as she slowly started to back away. That's when a crucial fact made itself know to Sakura as she realized, _"That's right… He's a ninja. Ninja's… are trained to kill. But then…" _Sakura trailed off as she remembered her dream of his battle with Sasuke, _"His friend tried to kill him… But Naruto-kun didn't… I never felt that intent from him. His friend felt… just plain unpleasant to even look at, especially after he became that monster. But Naruto-kun… during the entire time… felt like he was trying to stop his friend from leaving."_ Sakura thought as she stopped walking towards the forest, _"I'm thinking too much on this. I know Naruto-kun is a nice person. He helped me stop FLY last night and caught me when FLY blew me off the ground."_ She thought as memories of Naruto's kindness made her smile, _"I'm being silly thinking Naruto-kun would be like that."_ Sakura reassured herself as she started to walk to Naruto again, "Naruto-kun?"

Naruto jumped at Sakura's voice, whipping around with his hand on his kunai holster out of habit. When he saw it was Sakura he relaxed, "Oh Sakura-chan… Don't scare me like that…" He said before looking at her puzzled, "What are you doing here?"

"I came because I was worried." She said as she walked over to Naruto before sitting down next to him, "You said something was strange and came here alone. I didn't want you to be alone incase it was something bad…"

"I see. Thanks Sakura-chan. But I'm okay!" Naruto said pumping an arm then patting his muscle, "My chakra control may be shot to hell again, but it's nothing I can't fix!"

"Chakra… control?" Sakura asked blinking in confusion, "What is chakra?"

"Chakra is… Well basically it's what makes a ninja capable to be a ninja." Naruto told her before crossing his arms looking to the sky, "Chakra is a mixture of the body's physical energy and its spiritual energy. When the right amount is used, it allows me to use my ninjutsu, like my Kage Bunshin." He informed her before letting out a sigh, "I just can't figure out why my chakra control is so bad now…"

Sakura sighed with him before asking, "Maybe it's because you're in my world? My world doesn't have ninja who use chakra everywhere."

"That could be it. I think I remember hearing Iruka-sensei say that a person's environment could affect their chakra control. But I may have been dreaming that." Naruto said sheepishly as he started to scratch his head.

Sakura stared at Naruto for a moment before asking, "What if you used more chakra? Would that help?"

"Not really. It would just waist more chakra." Naruto before crossing his arms again before pausing. He stared into space for a moment before muttering, "That might be it actually." Naruto said before standing up and biting his thumb, drawing blood. Sakura watched in wonder as Naruto did five different symbols with his hands before slamming his bloody palm down on the ground, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" A plume of smoke appeared where Naruto had his palm. He lifted his hand, only to see a tadpole flopping around on the ground. Naruto only sighed in depression, "Back to tadpoles… Maybe I do need to use more chakra. Go on back home little guy."

Sakura only stared in disbelief at the tadpole before the tadpole poofed out of existence, causing Sakura to jump back in surprise before she asked, "Wh-wh-what was that?"

"That was the Kuchiyose no Jutsu, which summons the animal of the contact a person has signed. I signed the toad contract to I can summon toads… or tadpoles." Naruto said with a loose chuckle before sighing, "I guess I'll have to try tomorrow when I have a full chakra reserve since I burned some with my clones and Rasengan, just incase I do need a lot more then normal." He said before walking over to Sakura while offering his hand to her, "Until then, let's get you home. The sun will start setting soon."

Sakura nodded, accepting Naruto's help as he pulled her to her feet, "Yeah, I'd better get home before my Father and Big brother start to worry."

"In that case, hop on." Naruto said kneeling down in front of her, "If you fly you might get spotted. Plus I'll bet you never traveled shinobi style." Sakura looked reluctant for a moment as Naruto looked over his shoulder, "Come on! I caught you after you got blown away by the FLY card! I'm not going to drop you!"

This made Sakura smile and nod before she climbed onto Naruto's back. She returned her staff to its key state before tucking it away in her pocket, "I'm ready."

"Alright! Hold on!" Naruto told her before leaping off into the trees with amazing speed. Sakura couldn't hold in her scream of excitement and fear, which caused Naruto to wince at the loud yell. But that didn't stop him from smiling a second later, _"Heh, if I ever find a way back that can take me back here then I should show her fuzzy brows!"_ He thought before an image of Sakura being carried by Rock Lee entered his mind followed by one of Lee somehow managing to convince Sakura to wear the spandex suit, which caused him to shudder, _"On second thought, no one should ever be forced to bear that torture…"_

"Naruto-kun?" Sakura yelled over the sound of the rushing wind in her ears, "Are you okay?" She asked, having felt the shudder from him earlier.

Naruto only nodded as he bounced from one roof to another, but said nothing as he tried to push the image his mind had made out of his head. Moments later he quietly landed in the tree outside Sakura's window on the bottom branch, "This is as far as I go. Can't let your family see me after all."

Sakura nodded, climbing off of Naruto's back then to the ground. She started for her door before she stopped and turned back to Naruto, "I almost forgot! Meet us tomorrow morning behind the building before classes start so Tomoyo can give you your clothes." Sakura said quietly, but knew Naruto heard her or at least understood as he nodded before taking off into the sky again. Sakura only smiled as she watched Naruto leave, _"Yeah. He's far too nice to be like a normal ninja."_ Sakura thought as she turned back to head inside.

Meanwhile Naruto was heading to the school for some rest himself, _"I hope I can summon Gamakichi tomorrow… I really need some advice on what to do about my chakra."_ He thought as he landed in the school yard. However the second he landed he realized something was wrong. He felt a similar feeling to that he felt when he found Sakura for the first time, only the entire school was surrounded by it. Naruto looked around cautiously as he pulled out a kunai, not liking the feeling, _"What's going on? It's like Sakura-chan used the Kage Bunshin and filled the school! But… it feels way too different to be Sakura-chan…"_ Naruto thought before he suddenly sensed a harmful intent. He jumped from where he was standing just in time to avoid a barrage of desks and gym equipment.

"What the hell is with that?" Naruto shouted as he landed at the edge of the track lines. He didn't have time to answer as desks, chairs, and even tables start to fly out of windows and door straight at Naruto. Naruto swore as he ran down the edge of the track with the school's equipment crashing behind him with every step. Naruto slide to a stop as the desks and chairs stopped crashing with a smirk, "Ha! Too easy!" He shouted before noticing a table aiming straight for his head. Naruto quickly slashed at the table only thinking, _"I hope this works!" _The kunai managed to barely cut through the wooden table and the few rods the wood was screwed to. Naruto looked over his shoulder in surprise as the two pieces of the table fell behind him, "Awesome! Kunai beats school equipment!" **(Kunai, weapon for war and killing, vs. table, a plain table made to withstand students… kunai wins. Deal with it.)**

Naruto smiled before looking back to the middle of the courtyard, only to look in shock as all the equipment started to float in the air again, "Oh come on!" He shouted as he resumed dodging the desks and chairs that came flying at him, "How the hell do I beat school stuff? A couple desk I can destroy but too much and people will notice!" Naruto shouted to himself as he leaped to the roof to avoid a massive pile on. Naruto smirked as he flew into the air, never noticing a teacher's desk float up behind him until it batted him into a classroom like a ball.

Naruto grunted as he crashed through the window, rolling to his feet, "Damn it… how do I stop this?" He muttered before trying to exit the classroom. The second he did however, his eyes widened as he turned to the ground. He tried to move his leg only to find it seemed to be glue to the ground, "What the…? Why can't I move?" He shouted as he struggled to move his legs. That's when he noticed something off. He looked to his shadow to see another shadow hold his legs. The only thing was, he was the only person that was in the building, "So that's it…" Naruto muttered, pulling out one of the few explosive tags he kept hidden in his kunai holster. However before he had a chance to use it, the teacher's desk of the room slammed into his head of its own accord. Is his daze Naruto let go of the paper bomb as every desk and chair within the room as well as some from another room slammed into him, effectively burying him under the pile of school equipment.

_The next morning:_

Sakura happily hummed to herself as she skated up to her school gates, _"I can't help but wonder what Tomoyo-chan made for Naruto-kun!"_ She thought happily to herself as she entered the school yard. That is until she notice the large amount of students gathered at the quad entrance. She slowed to a stop behind her friends, "What's wrong?"

Chiharu, Rika, and Naoko all turned around to Sakura before ushering her in telling her to look at the strange sight in the yard. She skated up, looking around before seeing what was causing all the students to stare, "Wh-what is this?" She asked, seeing the large pile of desks and gym supplies in the middle of the track. Sakura stared at the pile for a moment before suddenly shouting, "What about our classroom?"

This made her friends worry as the four hurried to the classroom, only to see the same sight as outside, only on a smaller scale. "Who would pull a prank like this?" Chiharu asked her friends as she stared at the pile.

"But we're still the ones that have to clean up this mess, right?" Naoko asked, causing the four to sigh and look at the floor depressed.

Sakura then noticed a piece of paper on the floor. She squatted down and picked up the paper, seeing the strange design written on it, _"This looks like something Naruto-kun would carry… But that means that Naruto was here! Oh no! What if he was attacked or seen when this happened?" _She thought, quickly rushing over to the pile of desks and chairs hoping to not see the blonde in mess. However that wasn't the case as she spotted the patch of blonde hair through a small hole in the pile.

"Sakura-chan, what's wrong?" Rika asked, noticing her friend's odd behavior.

Sakura jumped at being called before sweat dropping as she turned back to her friends, "Nothing, I was just trying to see how many desks were in here…" She lied as the sweat drop rolled down the back of her head, _"I have to get Naruto-kun out of here or at least manage to wake him up! But… how?"_ She thought before walking to the other side of the desk pile, searching for a way to at least reach Naruto. She smiled when she spotted a small hole into the pile that was out of sight of the other students. She got onto her knees and crawled into the opening through an awkward tunnel of twists and turns. Sakura smiled gratefully as she made her way over a desk, _"I never thought I would have to bend like this. I guess all those exercises we do during cheer practice do something after all."_ She thought to herself with a small giggle. She had once questioned the point of so many stretches and poses, but not anymore.

Sakura continued through the maze of school belonging finally making it to Naruto, "Finally!" She said before reaching over to Naruto, shaking his shoulder, "Naruto-kun! Naruto-kun!" She whispered to him, trying to wake him up.

Naruto groaned after a minute of being shaken before shooting up, or at least trying to only to slam his head on a desk, "OWWW!" He shouted as the pile of desks shook, getting the attention of the students.

The students look at each other before Chiharu asked, "Hello? Is someone under there?"

Naruto grimaced before feeling a hand cover his mouth and hearing Sakura's voice say, "It's only me! I bumped into a desk after I crawled under here to see how many there were… It seems some of the desks from the store room are in here too!" She lied, hoping no one would question her.

"Okay! Just be careful getting out." Chiharu replied before only the murmur of the students could be heard.

Sakura sighed in relief before removing her hand from Naruto's mouth whispering, "Naruto-kun, what happened here?"

"I don't know…" He said as he rubbed the spot where he slammed his head, "I came here to sleep since it was getting late when all of the sudden everything started to fly around and attack me! I would have gotten out of here easily but something grabbed my shadow, making it where I couldn't move." He said as he tried to remember through the daze of being hit with a teacher's desk.

"How did something grab your shadow?" She whispered before realizing this wasn't the time or place to be asking questions, "Never mind, tell me later. Right now I need to get you out of here without people seeing you. But… how to do that?" She asked herself as she placed a hand on her chin.

Naruto only smiled before putting his hands together out of Sakura's sight and muttered, "Henge!" In a poof of smoke Naruto went from himself to an exact replica of Kero. Naruto smiled as he stood up, now to small to have to worry about space, "Just carry me out this way!"

Sakura stared at Naruto in awe before picking him up. She turned him over a few times and even tugged on the tail, earning a painful yelp from Naruto, "You look and feel just like Kero-chan! That's amazing!"

"Yeah…" Naruto groaned as he rubbed his bottom before saying, "Anyway, let's get me out of here. I don't know how long I can stay like this given my chakra control right now." Sakura nodded, placing Naruto under her hat before crawling back out of the desk pile. When she made it out, she saw a few students had already started to remove desks from the pile. She smiled at her timing of getting Naruto out of the pile as she walked over to the door just as it opened again.

Tomoyo walked in and gasped at the pile of desks that the student's were straightening out, "My, we seem to have a rather large predicament." She said before noticing Sakura nearby, "Good morning Sakura-chan."

"Good morning." She replied before looking around to see no one near by before whispering, "Can you cover for me for a minute? I have Naruto-kun hiding under my hat and I don't know how long I can." Tomoyo smiled and nodded, leaving Sakura to put her bag down before rushing out of the room and to the school roof. The second she closed the door she lifted her hat off, letting Naruto jump from her head. The second he made enough distance, he reverted back to his normal form. As Naruto started to stretch Sakura asked, "So… what exactly happened last night?"

Naruto looked over his shoulder at Sakura before turning all the way around to her, "Like I said, everything just started attacking me. My only warning was sensing a feeling to the one I felt from you when we first met, then everything went crazy. While jumping into the air to dodge more stuff I got hit into the classroom with a table. When I tried to leave my legs wouldn't move. I looked down to see a shadow holding mine in place, but no one was else was there. Then something hit me in the head and I blacked out." He said as he rubbed his shoulder, "Strange thing is only a certain clan in Konoha can manipulate shadows… But if one of them is here… Then why didn't they contact me and attack me?"

Sakura looked upset at hearing this before something else came to mind, "What if it's a Clow Card! That would make sense, wouldn't it?"

Naruto thought about this for a moment before nodding, "Possibly. We should ask Kero this afternoon." He said before hearing the door to the roof open.

Naruto jumped out of sight behind the roof entrance only to hear, "No need to hide Naruto-san." At this, Naruto came back out to see Tomoyo standing next to Sakura with a large bag, "I have the clothes as I said. Here you go." She said as she walked over and handed him the bag.

"Thank you." He said before walking close enough to the edge of the roof to where he could see the classrooms to see all of the students busy at work. He swung the bag over his shoulder as he turned back to Sakura and Tomoyo, "You two should get back to class before people come to look for you."

"Eh? But I want to see your new clothes Naruto-kun!" Sakura said enthusiastically as she walked over and tried to peek inside the bag only to have Naruto step back preventing her from doing so.

Naruto chuckled a bit as he stepped back at Sakura's antics as he said, "Come on Sakura-chan. You'll see them on me after school. The last thing we need is people seeing you talking with the school ghost." This caused Sakura to pout a bit before she turned to Tomoyo for help, only to have Tomoyo agree with Naruto. Seeing she was defeated, Sakura nodded reluctantly as Naruto said, "Alright then, we'll meet behind the school building this afternoon. See ya there." Naruto said, about to leave when suddenly Sakura grabbed his shoulder.

"No food stealing today." She said in a stern tone while giving him an accusing stare, knowing he would do it while handing him back the explosive tag he had dropped earlier.

Naruto laughed nervously as he took the tag with a sweat drop rolling down the back of his head, "Okay, okay… I won't get caught this time anyway." He said before disappearing from Sakura's sight before she could retaliate.

Sakura blinked for a second after Naruto's disappearance before fuming, "That's not what I meant!"

Tomoyo couldn't help but giggle at the two before opening the door back down stairs, "Shall we go Sakura-chan?" Sakura turned to Tomoyo and nodded, following her back to the classroom while ranting about Naruto's wild behavior. Hours later when the school lunch bell ended lunch, true to his word, Naruto didn't get caught stealing food from the cafeteria. However that didn't stop the faculty from noticing the sudden disappearance in food and do an extensive search of the school, which failed due to lack of evidence.

Meanwhile when this was happening, Naruto made his way to a secluded spot in the park where he started to meditate to get a feel of his chakra again. After what could have been hours Naruto bit his thumb then started to go through the Kuchiyose hand signs before slamming his palm down, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" He said as he used much more chakra then usual, hoping for results.

The plume of smoke came as Naruto gulped nervously, staring intently at the cloud as he raised his hand out of it. Then a familiar obnoxious voice said, "Dang it Ero-sennin, Naruto hasn't contacted me! This is the third time in a row you've summoned me about this!"

Naruto smiled at the voice as the smoke cleared to show Gamakichi, "Kichi! Thank goodness! I was worried I got another tadpole." Naruto said cheerfully as he picked Gamakichi up.

"Naruto?" Gamakichi said in surprised before growling, then slapping Naruto in the face with his tongue. Naruto dropped Kichi in surprise holding his face as Gamakichi went off on Naruto, "What the hell took you so long? You know how many times Jiraiya summoned to see if one of us had made contact with you? He's been going crazy just trying to find you!"

Naruto winced as he rubbed the spot where he had been tongue slapped, "I'm sorry! But this world really messes with my chakra! I had to use twice as much just to summon you!"

This made Gamakichi stop his rant and look around, "Oh yeah, where are we anyway? That way I can tell Jiraiya and the toads incase he doesn't summon me."

"That's just it… We're in another world." Naruto said as he sat down in front of Kichi, "I don't know how it happened, but when my Rasengan I formed with Kyuubi's chakra and Sasuke's Chidori he made with that weird seal covering him clashed, a weird black hole formed after we were blown apart. Sasuke was knocked unconscious and about to be sucked in but I grabbed him and managed to throw him to the top of the cliff before getting sucked in myself. After that I woke up in this town and ever since that happened my chakra has been going haywire. Even Kyuubi's chakra is acting weird. It took me a whole day to recover and it would only heal so much before stopping."

Gamakichi nodded as he rubbed his chin, "Sounds like this world doesn't have chakra in the environment like our world does, so it's drawing more from you. Jiraiya told you about the chakra outside your body right?" Naruto only shook his head, leaving Kichi to sigh, "Alright, I'll get him to make an instruction scroll for you. So how many people know about you here?"

"Only two… well three if you count the talking plush toy." Naruto told Kichi smiling, "They're trust worthy and haven't told anyone about me yet. I'm also helping one with a… job I guess you could call it. I'll let you meet them after you go talk to Ero-sennin deal?"

Gamakichi nodded with a smile, "Deal! Now uh… what's with the bandages?" He asked, hopping onto Naruto's shoulder and pulling at one of the bandage clothes.

"Oh, my jacket got torn apart, literally, and fell off. So I had to use bandages while letting my wounds heal. One of my friends made me some new clothes for me so I can go out in public." Naruto said as he moved the bag from his shoulder into his lap and opened it, "Oh man! She really did an amazing job in one night! I'll have to do something to make it up to her!" Naruto as he pulled out the outfit.

Gamakichi nodded in agreement when he saw the clothes, "She did this in one night? Impressive! Try it on!"

"Okay. Be right back." Naruto said before going behind a bush. Gamakichi started to tap his webbed foot as he waited for Naruto to return. "So how is it?" Naruto asked as he walked back to Gamakichi. He had a shirt with red around the shoulders and black down the rest with a red strip going down the middle. The pants had a tan patch before being covered in black with red streaks. He had his kunai holster in the usual spot along with a pair of black fingerless gloves that came with black and red bracers. His shoes were still ninja sandals, only now black with a red plate instead of blue. **(I don't do a good job describing things, so there's a link in my comments to the clothes.)**

"Awesome! Much better then that jumpsuit." Gamakichi said with a laugh as a tick mark appeared on Naruto's head. Gamakichi only waved his webbed hand as he calmed down before saying, "I'm just messing with you Naruto. It does look good on you though. Well I'd better get going and give Jiraiya that message. See ya!" Gamakichi said before doing back to his home.

Naruto smiled as Kichi left before looking over his clothes, "Heh, all I need is a sword and this would be awesome! Well I'd better go get a feel for this." He said before taking off into the city. He landed down in an alleyway and peaked out to see a small blend of people, "Maybe I should wait until school is out to try this…" Naruto mumbled as he watched a few police officers walk by, "Otherwise I'll never hear the end of it from Sakura-chan." He said before moving back into the alleyway, "To risk it or not… Ah what the hell!" Naruto said with a laugh before walking out into the street. To his surprise, no one gave him a second glance. A few stopped and looked at him before asking where he got the clothes, which caused him to laugh and say they were a gift.

The blending in went off without a hitch seeing as he made it past five city blocks without being stopped. After the last block he walked into an alley and jumped in excitement, "Finally! I don't have to hide anymore! I can't wait to show Sakura-chan!" He said before heading back to the school

The school bell rang as it signaled the end of the day early after the school was finished being cleaned up. Naruto noticed Sakura and Tomoyo were already waiting for him as he landed in the tree above them before falling to the ground, landing behind them, "Sorry I'm late. I wanted to see how well I blend in."

Sakura and Tomoyo both turned around to see Naruto in his new clothes. Tomoyo smiled in satisfaction while Sakura stared at Naruto before walking around him. Naruto watched her walk before she smiled with a clap of her hands, "Naruto-kun you look amazing! Tomoyo-chan you really out did yourself this time!" Sakura said turning between the two. Naruto rubbed his head sheepishly.

Tomoyo smiled and pointed to the direction of the school gate, "Shall we get going? We do have to confirm with Kero-chan if this event was caused by a Clow Card." Sakura and Naruto nodded as they followed Tomoyo out of the school yard. As they headed to Sakura's house, both she and Tomoyo noticed the lack of reaction from the people as they passed. This made the two girls smile as they now knew Naruto would no longer have to hide from people, but only his abilities.

The group approached Sakura's house they were having a small conversation about the day, "No way! They think that the ghost of the school, me, did all that?" Naruto asked before they entered the gate to her house.

"Yeah. It's all over the school now." Sakura said with a slightly nervous look, "The rumor is that the school upset the spirit of a young boy who died there and he is now seeking vengeance on those who disrespected him." She said before looking at Naruto, "Naruto-kun… you're not a ghost right?"

"So you really have to ask that Sakura-chan? You've felt me hold you before." Naruto told her with a raised eyebrow as he folded his arms behind his head.

"It seems your first card encounter was an interesting one Sakura-chan." Tomoyo added before giggling to herself.

Sakura turned to her friend confused not catching what Tomoyo meant with her naïve nature along with Naruto as they entered the gate to Sakura's house. Naruto looked up at the house and couldn't help a smile, "This will be the first time I don't have to enter through a window."

Sakura sweat dropped as she grabbed the doorknob, "Please don't tell my Father and Big brother about that… I don't think I could explain it if I tried…" Naruto nodded with a nervous chuckle as Sakura opened the door and led everyone inside, "I'm home and I brought guests!"

"Welcome home! No need to worry, the school already called and informed me on ending early!" Fujitaka, Sakura's father, answered as the three walked down the hallway. He stepped out of the kitchen whipping his hands on a towel, "Hello Daidouji-san, nice to see you again."

"The pleasure is mine." Tomoyo said as she bowed to Fujitaka.

Sakura's father then noticed the third, blonde spiky haired member of the group, "Nice to meet you. What's your name?"

"Uzumaki Naruto! Just call me Naruto!" Naruto said with a quick bow.

"We're going to head up to my room." Sakura said to her father as she started to head up the stairs.

Fujitaka nodded to his daughter, "I'll bring up some snacks and juice in a minute for you." He said as Naruto started up the stairs behind Tomoyo, "By the way Naruto-san, may I ask you something?"

"Shoot." Naruto told him as he stopped halfway up the stairs looking over his shoulder.

"Why aren't you in school uniform like Sakura or Tomoyo?" He asked, holding only a look of curiosity.

Naruto only smiled and lied off the top of his head, "I'm home school. I met Sakura-chan at the park a couple days ago and we became friends."

Fujitaka smiled in response, "Okay. Have fun." He said as he walked back into the kitchen. Naruto nodded and made his way to the top of the stairs where Sakura and Tomoyo were waiting. The second he made it the three let out a breath they were holding before walking into Sakura's room where Kero was waiting.

After explaining what happened at the school and Sakura's Otou delivering the snacks and tea as he promised. The second he left Kero sprang back to life and resumed thinking about the events at school. After a minute of standing in a thinking pose he smiled, "That's done by a Clow Card, all right!"

Sakura sighed after a sip of her juice, "It was such a hassle to straighten things up!"

"But as a result we didn't have any classes today." Tomoyo said looking on the bright side of the situation.

Sakura smiled with a slightly embarrassed blush as she said, "I was happy about that, but…"

"And we know I don't have to hide anymore." Naruto threw in as he grabbed a cookie, "Now the only question is what card we're dealing with."

"Well from what you told me it's probably the SHADOW card." Kero said before floating over to the tray with the snacks, "We'll have to go to the school tonight and make sure since the SHADOW is mainly active at night. Trying to catch it during the day is impossible." Kero said as he started to eat a cookie.

"EH? Tonight?" Sakura said loudly before shaking her head then forming an X with her arms, "Not at night!"

"Why?" Kero asked before stuffing another cookie into his mouth

Sakura at this point was shaking nervously as she held her hands close to her, "B-B-B-B-Because… the school at night…" She said before an image of her being chased by a one eyed ghost popped in her mind which made her start to yell, "No, no, no! I will NOT!" She yelled as she cried anime tears.

"We don't have a choice, SHADOW can only be captured at night." Kero said trying to reason with her.

"But it is true that the school at night can be a dangerous place!" Tomoyo said as she placed a hand on her cheek as she started to fantasize about something. Sakura instantly perked up thinking Tomoyo was standing up for not going to the school, only to face vault as Tomoyo said, "So I will come along with you! I must record Sakura-chan's bravery on video!"

Naruto only watched the three as he sipped his juice throw the straw Fujitaka had put in all the glasses before setting down the glass, "Don't forget I'm going too." He said before seeing Tomoyo stare off into space as she started to fully fantasize, leaving Naruto to sweat drop and ask, "Is she okay?"

"I don't know…" Sakura mumbled as she tried to get over the fact she had to go to the school at night.

Kero seemed to have toned out Sakura's and Naruto's comments as he flew up to Tomoyo, "All right, the four of us are gonna attack the school tonight!"

Tomoyo smiled as she turned to Sakura, bringing up a topic from the day before, "If that is the case, there is a bigger need to come up with a trademark pose!"

"Yeah! We'll start training now!" Kero cheered before he grabbed Naruto's collar and tried to pull him over to Sakura, "Come on Naruto! If you're going to help Sakura you need a pose too!"

"I couldn't agree more!" Tomoyo said as she help Kero move Naruto next to Sakura.

"Hey! Wait! I'm a ninja I don't need a pose!" Naruto tried to argue only to have it fall on deaf ears as he was pushed over to Sakura.

Sakura only had one thing to say throughout the conversation, "HHHHOOOOEEEE!"

_Time jump: nightfall in front of school gate_

Sakura was standing in front of the gate staring at the school. While she had managed to stop her shaking, her voice still quivered, "I-I'm scared…"

Naruto looked up at Sakura as he continued to lean on the wall and spin one of his few remaining kunai on his index finger, "Don't worry. I won't let anything happen to you!" He said while grabbing the kunai, _"I just hope that adjustment I made to my explosive tags works and doesn't backfire." _He thought to himself as he pulled one of the tags out, _"If this works then it should be like one of my old paint bombs, but only a bright light instead."_ He thought as he put the tag away, _"Of course for those I had more than a couple hours to make. After Tomoyo and Kero wouldn't let that pose thing go I had to make do with the time I had."_ Naruto thought to himself as Kero tried to boost Sakura's confidence only to fail. Sakura did take a second to look at Naruto and smile softly seeming to cheer up knowing Naruto was there.

Naruto smiled back before noticing the head lights of a car approaching along with Sakura and Kero. Kero quickly took cover as Naruto put his kunai away, pushing off the wall and walking up next to Sakura as the car pulled up. When it came to a stop, the door opened to reveal Tomoyo stepping out as a van stopped behind the car. Tomoyo only smiled as she walked up to Sakura and Naruto, "Did I keep you waiting?"

"Only for a minute." Naruto said before looking at the car then the van, "Who else is here?" He asked just as the doors to the vehicles opened.

Four different women, all in the same uniform, stepped out of the vehicles and formed up behind Tomoyo, standing next to each other. Tomoyo held her hand out the ladies as they stopped, "Allow me to introduce you. These are the family bodyguards."

The ladies bowed to Naruto and Sakura, who returned it a second later. The leader of the guards seemed to stare at Naruto for a moment as she straightened up before turning to Tomoyo, "Then, Miss…"

"Yes." Tomoyo started, catching the guard's pause, "Please come pick me up when I call you." The lady nodded before the four filed into the car and drove off.

Naruto whistled as the car vanished over the hill as Sakura cheered, "Amazing! Amazing! There aren't that many grade-schoolers that have bodyguards!"

"Oh? Grade-schoolers that can use magic with a ninja friend are even more rare." Tomoyo replied for taking Sakura's hand and led her to the back of the van, "Anyway, this way please." She said as she pulled Sakura along.

Naruto seemed to see what Tomoyo intended and reached for the handle to the van's back door and opened it for Tomoyo. Tomoyo nodded in thanks as Sakura gasped at the contents of the van. This caused Naruto to lean over and look into the van only to whistle again, "Wow… Sakura-chan wasn't kidding when she said you liked to make clothes."

Tomoyo giggled before grabbing Sakura's shoulders, "Now, now, you should change!"

"W-Why?" Sakura asked surprised by the sudden statement.

"You're going to go capture a Clow Card now, right, Sakura-chan?" Tomoyo replied, receiving a nod from Sakura. This caused Tomoyo to smile brightly and say, "When you are doing special things, you must wear special clothes!"

"I totally agree!" Kero shouted as he came out of hiding from Sakura's backpack, "If you don't go after them in clothes suitable for a Cardcaptor you might lose the mental battle against the card!"

"Mental battle?" Naruto asked as he cocked an eyebrow, "We're fighting a magical being with no idea what it looks like and what all of its powers are. I don't think the mental battle applies here."

"What? How can you say that Naruto!" Kero shouted as pointed up and down Naruto, "Just look at yourself! You're clothes and demeanor scream fighter! No one would dare mess with you!"

This made Naruto only tilt his head with a slightly confused look as Tomoyo suddenly grabbed Kero's paws, "I'm happy that you understand how I feel!" She said before turning to Sakura, "I also have hats for every outfit!" Tomoyo added as she pushed Sakura in the van.

Kero was about to fly in when Naruto suddenly grabbed his tail and pulled him back, "Sorry Kero, girls only." He said as he shut the van door, ignoring Kero's complaints. He then knocked on the door and yelled, "We're going to scout the school yard and see if anything is happening! Meet you there!"

After receiving a unison "Hai!" from the two Naruto dragged Kero with him to the school yard. He easily hopped over the wall and continued to drag Kero with him to the school yard, "Kero, do you sense anything?"

Kero only grumbled about not seeing Sakura's outfit as he started to focus on his surroundings. After a minute he opened his eyes again, "Yeah. It's SHADOW alright… But I can't make out where it is since SHADOW can blend in with other shadows."

Naruto nodded and pulled out a three of his five modified paper bombs, "Okay. I'd better keep these on hand then. They might come in handy… I just hope I changed the right markings on them or this will backfire really bad…" He said as tucked the tags into his bracer for easy access.

"If that's the case, only use them if you have too." Kero said, having overheard Naruto.

Naruto nodded in agreement before he and Kero turned around hearing Tomoyo say, "Presenting Sakura-chan in her battle costume for the Clow Card!" She said before stepping aside as Sakura walked into sight.

Naruto couldn't help but stare at Sakura for a moment before smiling, "Wow you look really nice Sakura-chan!" Sakura only blushed as she folded her hands. Sakura was wearing a gymnast like under suit covered by a white over coat and white gloves, red and white shoes with black socks going a little above her knees, and long red cape with a large bow in the front and a red hat.

Tomoyo agreed with Naruto as she pulled out her camcorder, "You do look lovely, Sakura-chan!"

"Hoe! This is embarrassing!" Sakura suddenly shouted as her blushed deepened.

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about." Kero said as he floated over to Tomoyo.

Tomoyo paused for a second as she realized she had forgotten something, "That's right! I have something for you as well, Kero-chan!" She said as she dug into her coat pocket and pulled out a charm with a large bow on it. She quickly tied it around Kero's neck before smiling, "You match Sakura-chan's outfit now. Very cute."

Kero smiled as he said, "Y-You think so?" as he started to do many different poses.

Sakura and Naruto both stared at the two in disbelief before Sakura hung her head slightly, "There is no tension in them at all…"

"Maybe that's a good thing." Naruto said as he stuck his hands into his pockets while walking over, "Tension before a battle is never a good thing. It messes with your sense of judgment and makes you panic the second the fight starts." He told her before putting a hand on Sakura's shoulder, "I know this is a little nerve wracking for you, but don't worry. You have me and Kero looking out for you."

Sakura smiled at Naruto's form of encouragement, "Thank you Naruto-kun… I'm still a bit nervous but I'm better then I was."

Naruto only smiled at Sakura before a loud sound of something big moving caught their ears. Naruto's demeanor pulled a complete one-eighty as he went from smiling to completely serious as he pulled out a kunai, "Here it comes…"

Sakura's nerves returned in an instant as she started to back closer to Naruto as he stared off into the direction of the sound. Tomoyo and Kero turned to Naruto and Sakura when they noticed the sudden change in behavior. Everyone waited as they watched the entrance to the school yard as an eerie silence filled the air. Naruto lowered his kunai after a minute of nothing happening, "Maybe it was nothing." This made everyone calm down when they saw Naruto lower his guard.

Naruto's words were proven wrong that second as the statue from the front of the school suddenly came flying into the courtyard, aiming straight for everyone. "Watch out!" Naruto shouted as he quickly wrapped his arms around Sakura's and Tomoyo's waist and jumped out of the way of the statue just before it wedged its foot into the ground. The second he landed he let the two go and readied his kunai, "Hey Tomoyo, how much does that statue cost?"

"There's nothing significant about it in costs, why?" Tomoyo asked, only to be answered as Naruto used his kunai to smash the statue into two as it started to pull itself out of the ground.

The statue fell lifeless to the ground in pieces as Naruto winces and shook his hand from breaking the statue, "Oh no reason." Naruto said with a smirk.

"Naruto-kun! You can just destroy the school's property!" Sakura yelled at him after seeing his action.

Naruto looked at her with a passive stare as he walked back over, "I think the fact the statue just tried to kill us beats not destroying it!" Naruto said before he turned to the classroom just as a desk suddenly came flying out of the window at them. Naruto quickly batted the desk out of the way while asking, "Kero! Is it SHADOW or not!"

Kero looked around before noticing the one lone shadow on the ground, only with no one or any other shadow near it, "Yeah! This is SHADOW! No doubt about it!"

"Kero-chan! Stay with Tomoyo-chan!" Sakura said before running away from the two while shouting, "Naruto-kun! Can you cover me?"

"Easily!" Naruto said as he started to cut the shadows that came out of the ground while making sure to keep his own shadow away.

Sakura nodded and stopped in the middle of the courtyard as she pulled out her key, "The key which hides the power of the Dark!" She said starting the spell as the key was surrounded by a sphere of light, "Show your true form before me! I, Sakura, command you under our contract! RELEASE!" She shouted as the key let off the bright light as it turned into a staff.

"They look good together!" Tomoyo whispered from her hiding place in the bushes while taping Sakura and Naruto with Kero nearby.

Naruto landed next to her, cutting a shadow that had tried to sneak up behind her, "Whatever you plan on doing, do it fast!"

Sakura only smiled as she pulled out WINDY and threw it down to the magic circle around her as she started to twirl her staff. As she did, the shadows started to form a dome around the two, getting ready to come down as Sakura started to chant, "Wind, become a binding chain! WINDY!" Sakura chanted as she touched the tip of her staff to the card with Naruto watching her back. The card came to life along with the wind as a beautiful pixie like woman came out of the card. She opened her eyes before charging at shadows surrounding Sakura and Naruto.

The wind wrapped around portions of the shadow and started to squeeze, only to have the shadows break apart under the hold. Naruto watched as the broken shadows charged, "There's no much to hold! We have to get rid of these shadows!" Naruto shouted as he deflected the oncoming shadow projectiles as Sakura glued herself to his back. The second he had an opening, Naruto pulled out of his modified tags, "Everyone shield your eyes and don't look no matter what!" He shouted hoping Tomoyo and Kero had heard him.

Sakura nodded and grabbed onto Naruto's free arm while hiding her eyes. Naruto channeled chakra into the tag, making it spark before throwing it up to the sky. A second later the tag exploded into a very bright light that shined down onto the courtyard. **(Think flare that only lasts a few seconds.)** The light caused the shadows to fade but now disappear, which was all Naruto needed. He grabbed Sakura around the waist again, surprising her as he leaped across the courtyard. The light faded a within a few seconds as Naruto set Sakura back onto her feet, "It's like a pool of shadows… We don't have enough light to make them disappear and my tags only make them fade…"

"Light…" Tomoyo muttered before gasping, "That's it!" She said as she rushed off to the school entrance.

"Hey wait up!" Kero shouted, taking off after her only to pause for a moment and stare at Sakura and Naruto, "Please hold on for a minute you two…" He muttered before taking off after Tomoyo to keep her safe.

"It looks like Tomoyo has a plan." Naruto said quietly as he waited for the pool of shadows to attack.

Sakura nodded nervously showing she had noticed as well, "W-We'll just have to trust her!"

"And keep the shadows busy." Naruto said before handing Sakura a modified tag, "Here, take this. I've already set it up. Just tear it and throw it when you need to use it. Make sure to look away when you do." Naruto whispered to her as Sakura took the tag. Sakura stared at the tag for a second before tucking it away as Naruto continued, "Now use FLY and start flying around the shadows out of reach while I keep it busy on the ground."

Sakura nodded again, using the FLY card then taking off into the air. The second she did however, desks started to be thrown out of the window's at her. Sakura dodged them with ease as the pool of shadows focused on Naruto, who was leading it around the school yard with an amused smirk, "Is this it? I thought a card that could control shadows would be a bit harder to fight after last night!" He taunted while avoiding the wave of shadows that had tried to crash onto him. Naruto then jumped to the wall of the school, looking up at Sakura, "Sakura-chan! How you holding up?"

Naruto's answer was Sakura screaming as she tried to avoid the barrage of desks being thrown at her. Naruto scowled as he wrapped a tag around one of his few remaining kunai and threw it into the classroom she would be passing next. The second it entered through the broken window, the classroom was illuminated, making all the shadows inside vanish since they were in less numbers which left them no where near as strong as the pool. As the desks dropped to the floor, Sakura took a moment to breathe in relief as she noticed the desks had stopped flying at her.

Her rest however didn't last long as the pool of shadows had pulled a surprise maneuver as it latched onto her staff. Sakura instantly felt it try to pull her down as she tried to pull out of its grasp, "Let me go! Naruto-kun, help me!" Sakura shouted as tried to escape the shadows hold, only to suddenly be flipped up into the sky. Sakura recovered in mere seconds and looked down to see Naruto smiling at her on the wall she was near.

Naruto had leaped at the column of shadows holding Sakura the second she had shouted for help, cutting it close to the staff where he hoped it was at its weakest. His plan had worked as Sakura flew higher into the sky from the force she was using trying to escape. He looked up and smiled at her as she looked down, but that smile didn't last long. The shadows went from going after Sakura to Naruto when his guard was down.

Naruto screamed in surprise as he was suddenly pulled off the wall down towards the pool of shadows. He grunted as he tried to cut the shadows, only to have the shadows engulf his hand holding his kunai as well as having his tags hidden in his bracers, _"Damn it!"_

"Naruto-kun!" Sakura shouted as she suddenly grabbed his free hand with one of her own while she threw down the tag, now torn in two, that he has given her earlier. The tag went off when it hit the pool of shadows, forcing it to lose its grip on Naruto allowing Sakura to pull him away to safety.

Naruto smirked as he flipped himself onto Sakura's staff, landing on his feet behind her, "Thanks Sakura-chan! I owe you one!"

"We're even actually." She said happily before looking down to the shadows, "But what do we do? You can't have many of those tags left and we're not getting anywhere!" As if to answer Sakura's question, all the lights of the school started to come on one after another. Soon the entire school was shedding light, making all the shadows disappear. Sakura and Naruto looked around in shock as the shadows vanished, "What happened?" Sakura asked as she continued to look around the school.

Naruto stayed silent until he spotted Tomoyo and Kero in a window, "Over there!" He said pointing down at them as he sat down on the staff.

Sakura nodded and flew down to the window, stopping in front of it smiling cheerfully, "Tomoyo-chan, Kero-chan, thank you! We were running out of options!"

Tomoyo smiled back as she said, "I got the idea from seeing Naruto-san use the strange paper! I knew if I could turn the school lights on, the shadows would disappear since the lights don't fade out like the light from the tag did."

"That's awesome!" Naruto said before noticing something moving in the courtyard, "What's that?" He asked urgently while pointing down to the moving figure.

Kero floated over to Sakura and Naruto to get a better look at the figure and instantly recognized it, "That's the SHADOW's main body! It's trying to get out of the light!"

"Like hell it is!" Naruto suddenly shouted as he hopped off Sakura's staff while making his favorite hand-sign, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" He shouted, making a single clone as he landed on the ground. He and the clone charged running next to each other as Sakura started to follow. _"If it takes more chakra then normal then…"_ He thought as the clone started to form a Rasengan in his hand as they charged.

The card noticed the two charging him as it turned to face them. It reeled its arm back then launched a beam after beam of shadows at the two, not even taking notice of Sakura flying above it. Naruto only gave a semi-grin as the Rasengan finished in his hand while he and his clone dodged the attacks with little effort needed. The clone then dispelled as Naruto dash around SHADOW, making it to where he was facing the school, "This is for causing us so much trouble you bastard! Rasengan!" Naruto yelled as he slammed the ball of spiraling chakra into the gut of SHADOW.

The card seemed to recoil in pain as it was sent flying back into the school wall as Naruto looked up to Sakura, "Sakura-chan now!"

Sakura nodded, landing in front of Naruto while throwing WINDY down again, "Wind." She started as she began to twirl her staff around, "Become a binding chain to hold SHADOW down and prevent its escape attempts! WINDY!" She shouted as she brought the tip of her staff down onto the card. For the second time that night the card came to life and quickly charged at the recovering SHADOW. Before it could react, it found itself suddenly wrapped head to toe by one of its counterparts.

Naruto smiled at the success of the card being captured as Sakura started her second spell, "Return to the guise that you were meant to be in! Clow Card!" She shouted as she raised her staff above her head and brought it down. The staff stopped itself in the middle of the air as a glowing shape of a card appeared. The shape quickly sucked in both SHADOW and WINDY, capturing its intending target.

The magic circle faded away as the two cards dropped to the ground. Sakura smiled as she bent down and picked the card up, "Tonight sure was a hassle…"

"If it's bad for you think about how I feel…" Naruto said as he looked around at the mess, "Any chance of me using this place to sleep is completely out of the question now… Especially if more cards show up…" He said before hanging his head in defeat, "I guess I'm doomed to a life of sleeping in trees until I can manage to get a place of my own here…"

Sakura's smiled quickly faded at hearing this before an idea hatched in her head, "Well… If you promise to be careful, you can sleep in my closet until you find a place of your own."

"Really?" Naruto quickly asked as his head snapped back up.

Sakura smiled and nodded, "I can't let you sleep outside after being so nice to me. You saved me so many times tonight too. It's the least I can do." She said, only to be cut off as Naruto cheered as he leaped into the air. This only made Sakura smile more as she looked up to the window Tomoyo and Kero were waiting at.

Tomoyo smiled as she lowered her camera, having been filming the entire time, "This is splendid!"

_The next morning:_

Sakura was on her way to the AV room of the school with Naruto shadowing her there to go thank her for the help. Sakura looked around when she arrived at the room and smiled as she saw no one, "Okay, no one is here. You can come out Naruto-kun." Naruto appeared next to her, making her jump a little even though she was expecting it. Naruto only laughed at her reaction leaving her to giggle a little herself, "I was surprised you not only woke me up but then managed to leave without making a sound this morning."

"It's what I was trained to do. And to be honest… I would have been considered loud by any other shinobi." He said sheepishly as Sakura opened the door to the room, "I'm just glad the police didn't stick around to long this time. I was starting to get nervous."

"Really? I can't see that…" Sakura said as she entered the room only to freeze when she looked at the screen as it placed scenes of hers and Naruto's battle against SHADOW. She face vaulted a second later as Naruto barely managed to hold in his laughter at seeing the video while shutting the door so no one would see.

Sakura slowly walked up to Tomoyo, hiding her eyes with her bangs embarrassed, "You were even filming that?"

"Of course!" Tomoyo replied on a dim, "I cannot miss even one second of your bravery with Naruto-san, Sakura-chan!" She said before standing up, facing Sakura with her hands folding in a begging position, "From now on, please call me any time you're going to go capture cards!" Sakura only gasped in surprise as her blushed deepened while Tomoyo continued, "We must record the wonderful job of the Cardcaptor on film! And further more!" She added as she turned away from Sakura, staring off into space, "Leave it to me for all of the costumes! I already have yours and Naruto's planned out!" She continued in pure happiness.

At this Naruto had fallen over laughing as Sakura simply let out an exasperated sigh. On the screen it stopped as it showed Sakura giving a victory sign with Naruto looking like he had done a victory cheer with his arm pumped in the air while he was off the ground.

**Alright that's two. I feel I really did good this time ^^ Added more of my personal touch while making sure I still left a little mystery to come.**

_**Reviewers response:**_

**Okay I got a lot saying they liked the remake while saying the liked the original as well, a good bit are unsure and waiting for more to decide, and so far… maybe three or four have said they want me to go back to the original. So far… remake is winning. But that may change, so my mind is still open to opinions.**

_**GAU28:**_** That's what I'm trying not to do. I noticed I did in my first fic and am trying to fix that.**

_**Inumiru:**_** I thought I had covered that… Well hopefully here's a better explanation. If you remember, before Naruto tried to eat FLY, he passed out from the pain in his side. When he woke up, he was fully healed. I took into the account the human body does most of its healing when a person sleeps (or is unconscious in anyway) and used that as a catalyst for his regeneration. Basically, his regeneration will only take full affect when he sleeps. Plus there is… the hidden reason why Kyuubi's chakra is acting different that I haven't revealed yet ^^.**

_**Chm01:**_** Sorry to burst your bubble, but the fox traits will make an appearance, but I have a major plan for those ^^ and yes, the dream has something to do with it. **

_**Seithr-Kairy:**_** Yes I did and I appreciate it.**

**If I didn't address your review then it was because I A.) Didn't need to. B.) Whatever you said and/or asked will be revealed in future chapters. C.)… okay I don't have a reason C yet but you get the idea.**

**Also sorry if its not as funny as last chapter, but the SHADOW episode was more serious on Sakura being a Cardcaptor then jokes.**

_**Please READ, ENJOY, AND REVIEW**_


	3. WATERY revelations

**Well the lack of reviews was a bit down heartening… But then I realized that you probably said whatever you wanted to say and had nothing to say for the second chapter besides how much they liked it.**

**JUDGMENT DAY! THIS IS LAST CHAPTER FOR EXPERIMENTAL RUN! WHAT YOU SAY FOR THIS CHAPTER DECIDES WHETHER IT IS THIS ONE, OR MY ORIGINAL! I WANT YOUR FULLEST TO HONEST OPINIONS! LET IT ALL OUT!**

**Thank you.**

"_No… Not this again…"_ Naruto thought as he tossed and turned on the futon Sakura had laid down for him in the closet. His mind was in turmoil as the horrifying scene played through his mind.

Naruto was watching his home be destroyed as the bodies of the ones he cared for burned in the fires scattered throughout the remains of the towns, only this time Naruto was watching from the sky as a look-a-like of him laughed manically on top of a twisted fusion of the Hokage Mountain and Tokyo Tower. Naruto couldn't help but sigh as he watched the look-a-like, sporting claws, fox ears, a tail, enlarged fangs, and crimson slited eyes, _"How many times does it make this week… Three?"_ He asked himself, not able to keep full count in his dream like state.

The nightmare always had the same effect on Naruto. It made him hate himself for not being able to stop it, saddened him to be forced to watch himself slaughter his friends, and also despise the burden he was forced to carry who he knew was the cause for the nightmares. What made it worse was that he couldn't even predict when he would have a nightmare or a normal dream. Naruto blinked in his dream and suddenly found himself in a graveyard with all the tombstones of his friends. Just seeing them started to make him shake in rage before he howled furiously at the heavens as he started to destroy his surroundings. He only wanted the nightmares to stop, so sleep with peace of mind that everything would be standing in the morning. The next thing Naruto knew, the dream started to fade.

He awoke with a startle while trying to sit up as he felt a hand over his mouth and a shadow loaming over him. A second later his vision cleared to show Sakura looking down at him with concerned eyes as she removed her hand and asked, "Was it the nightmare again?" Naruto only started to breathe deeply as he started to feel the cold sweat on his body. He laid back down trying to regain his composer as Sakura said, "Maybe… you should see a doctor Naruto-kun… This is the fourth time this week I woke up to you thrashing about in here and had to stop you from screaming. It's not normal!"

"I'm anything but normal Sakura-chan…" Naruto said as he placed the back of his hand to his forehead to whip the sweat off, "It will only make things worse if I go. I'll deal with my nightmares some how." He said before looking over to her, "How early did I wake you this time?"

"Only twenty minutes thankfully. It shouldn't be to suspicious with my Big brother if I just wait for him to call me down." She said as she stood up and grabbed handle to her closet door, "Do you want a moment alone?" She asked used to Naruto's habits after a nightmare. He tended to want and sit alone for a minute, to try and make sense of it all Sakura guessed. Just as she thought, Naruto nodded as he sat up while staring at his hand.

Sakura respected his wishes and closed the closet door to where it was cracked open so as Naruto wouldn't be sitting in complete darkness. She then proceeded to get changed into her school uniform as her mind worried about Naruto, _"Naruto-kun only sleeps, eats, and trains… I don't think I've seen him have any fun. He works so hard and with those nightmares…" _She thought before reaching into her bag for her social studies group project worksheet, _"I should do something fun with him and try to get his mind off of those nightmares. But what…?"_ She asked herself with a huff before looking down at her worksheet she had pulled out. Then it clicked on what to do, _"That's it!"_

Sakura quickly walked back to the closet and opened the door to see Naruto sitting in the same position as she had left him, "Naruto-kun!" Naruto only blinked as he looked up at her as she smiled cheerfully, "What do you have planned for today?"

"Training, you know that. Not much else I can do, plus I have to get my chakra under control." Naruto responded with a slightly hollow voice.

Sakura only smiled brighter as she said, "Not today your not!" Naruto only blinked in confusion as Sakura continued, "You need to have some fun! So I'm taking you to the aquarium with my classmates today!" Naruto went from blinking in confusion to blinking in surprise before he was pulled to his feet by Sakura as she said, "We're meeting an hour after classes start at school! Don't worry, Tomoyo-chan is in my group and can help cover for you! We made up lots of stories during all the study halls we had when the teachers were chasing you after you raided the lunch room." She said while tossing him his clothes since he was wearing a pair of her brother pajamas that she had snuck out of the laundry room. She then pushed him out the window and pulled it shut. The lock clicked, showing he wasn't going to be allowed back in, leaving no room for argument.

Naruto only blinked as he held his clothes before he realized everything that had just happened, "I guess I'm not training today." Naruto said before he hopped to the nearby tree and proceeded to change. Without making a sound besides a light knock on the window, he left the pajamas folded on the window before taking off to the aquarium. He stopped at the park as he suddenly asked himself, "Wait… what is an aquarium?"

Naruto thought about it for a minute with a hum before his stomach interrupted his train of thought. Naruto rubbed his stomach as he smiled, "Time to raid the cafeteria!" He said before forming a basic hand sign, "Henge!" Naruto shouted before he was enshrouded in smoke for a moment. The smoke cleared to show Naruto in his bandaged torso and torn pants. He smiled as he made sure he got it right, "Never thought being a ghost would have perks." Naruto said before heading off to the school.

Thirty minutes later Sakura skated up to the school gate only to hear rumors of the school ghost striking again. She stopped at the locker room and sighed, seeing no one around, _"Not again… I guess I should have gotten Naruto-kun breakfast before pushing him out…"_ She thought to herself as she took off her skates and pads.

"Sakura-chan!" A voice called out called out as a group of footsteps could be heard approaching. Sakura turned around to see Tomoyo, Naoko, Chiharu, and Rika all approaching her. Naoko was the one that called and was clearly the happiest of the group as she asked, "Have you heard? Someone saw the school ghost!"

Sakura tensed up at hearing this, but not out of fear, "Y-You don't say?" She asked slightly nervous while thinking, _"Please say he wasn't caught!"_

"Yeah! He didn't see his face but face but he saw a large patch of blonde hair in the cafeteria before it disappeared!" Naoko said excitedly, missing Sakura's sigh of relief as she put her hand to her chin, "But… why would a ghost steal food?"

As Naoko pondered on the strange behavior of the super-natural, Chiharu and Rika noticed Sakura's lack of reaction to the ghost story. Rika was the first one of the two to speak, "Sakura-chan, are you alright?"

"Hoe?" Sakura asked with a tilt of her head, "I'm fine. Why?" She asked, still thanking kami in her mind that Naruto wasn't caught.

"It's just… you seemed preoccupied." Chiharu said while watching Naoko day dream, "You usually can never stand any type of ghost story, but you didn't even try to change the subject like you normally do when Naoko starts on a story."

"Oh…" Sakura said before smiling cheerfully, "I'm just happy to be visiting the aquarium today!" Sakura then remembered her plan from that morning, "Oh yeah, do you mind if a friend of mine joins us today?"

Everyone stopped and looked at Sakura confused before Tomoyo asked, "Who?"

"You know who he is Tomoyo-chan." Sakura answered her, "He's being home schooled and his Mother agreed to let him come with us for his social studies if everyone was alright with it."

Tomoyo smiled instantly when she caught Sakura's hint when she used one of their many cover stories they had made, "Ah! He will be joining us today? Wonderful! He could use the break." Tomoyo said as she remembered the many nightmares Sakura had told her about.

"Um… Who is "he"?" Chiharu asked as she and the two others were confused on Sakura's and Tomoyo's interaction.

Rika thought for a moment to herself before she asked, "It wouldn't be that mysterious boy you have been meeting with would it?"

Sakura nodded excitedly at the thought of Naruto having fun for a change, "Yeah. I hope you'll let him come! He really needs a day to relax."

Naoko, Chiharu, and Rika all looked at each other while muttering things like, "Curious… chance to meet him…. Could be fun…" The group nodded to each other before smiling at Sakura and Tomoyo as Naoko said, "Why not? It'll be fun to make a new friend!"

Sakura cheered after her friends agreed to allow Naruto to attend with them, "Then let's hurry to homeroom so we can meet up with him soon!" She said, momentarily forgetting that they had an hour of homeroom before they could leave school.

Of course that hour of homeroom had been converted to study hall pending an investigation of the morning cafeteria raid. Sakura couldn't help but say, "I'm going to have a serious conversation with him about this…" Her friends looked at her, slightly confused on what she had mumbled to herself. The class soon found themselves simply chatting about the event of the morning instead of studying over the course of the hour.

The classes were soon dismissed to do their social studies project. As the group walked out of the classroom Tomoyo asked, "So where are we meeting with Naruto-san?"

"In front of…" Sakura started as they exited the building only to stop as she saw Naruto waving at her from the school gate, "The aquarium… What's he doing here?" She said out loud as they walked over to him, "Naruto-kun, I told you to meet us at the aquarium. Why are you here?"

"I didn't know how to get to the aquarium." Naruto said as he looked from Sakura to everyone else before leaning in and whispering, "Plus I don't know what an aquarium is…"

This got a yell of surprise from Sakura as she asked, "Are you serious?" She received a nod from Naruto which left her speechless for a moment.

Tomoyo couldn't help but giggle at the two's interaction while Chiharu, Rika, and Naoko all had a confused expression before one of them asked, "So this is the mystery boy?"

This brought Sakura out of her stunned state and smiled nervously with a sweat drop, "Gomen! This is Uzumaki Naruto-kun!" She said with her hand held out in front of Naruto. She then turned around to Naruto while holding her hand out to each of her friends, moving after each name as she said, "This is Sasaki Rika-chan, Mihara Chiharu-chan, and Yanagisawa Naoko-chan, my friends and classmates I'm working with on our social studies project."

Naruto looked at the three before giving a wave of his hand, "Yo." Sakura only sweat dropped at Naruto's lack of a formal greeting considering it was his first time meeting the three.

The three all stared at Naruto's form of greeting for a moment before smiling and giggling, "He's much more relaxed then he looks… I thought he was going to just shrug us off… I wonder if those marks on his cheeks are real…" They said to each other quietly.

Naruto only sweat dropped as he raised a finger, "I can hear you, you know. And yes the marks on my cheeks are real. They're birth marks." He told them answering all their questions while embarrassing them without meaning to at the same time. He then thought about part of their conversation before asking Sakura, "Do I look that odd?"

"Not so much odd then different." Sakura said before the clock tower of the school rang, "Ah, we're falling behind schedule! We better get going!" She said as she took Naruto's hand and started to lead everyone away from the school. Naruto stumbled along when he was suddenly pull along with the group following after the two, laughing to themselves as they made quiet comments, this time making sure Naruto didn't hear them.

It wasn't long before everyone arrived at the aquarium. The second they walked into the building, Naruto stopped and looked around in awe at the building, "Whoa… So this is an aquarium?"

"Yeah! They have all kinds of fish here!" Sakura said as she pulled him along.

"Uzumaki-san hasn't been to an aquarium before?" Chiharu asked as they followed Naruto and Sakura into the building.

Tomoyo smiled as she pulled out her camcorder, "Naruto-san's family moved here from deep in the country. He's only been here for a week and a half. With being home schooled, he hasn't had the time to see everything in the city."

"That makes sense and it explains why he doesn't bow. He's use to already knowing everybody." Rika said as she watched the two move between the fish displays.

Sakura, unaware that she and Naruto were being observed by her friends, continued to pull the still awe struck Naruto along, "Hey, these fish here are really cute aren't they Naruto-kun!" She said as she put her hands onto the glass.

"I don't know about cute but I can say I've never seen fish like this before." Naruto said as he stopped next to her while looking at the tank as the fish went by with a curious stare.

Sakura smiled at Naruto, seeing his mind was the furthest it could be from his nightmares or training before she grabbed onto his arm again and pulled him over to a tank with a puffer fish. The two watched as the fish swam over to them, only to blink in surprise as it puffed itself up. "What kind of fish is that?"

"It's a puffer fish!" Sakura pointing down to the small display plate at the bottom of the tank before she tried out puff the puffer fish. Naruto only watched her with an amused smile before joining Sakura in her game.

Tomoyo, Rika, and Naoko all watched the two as Tomoyo filmed their behavior, "They look so happy."

"They do." Rika commented as she moved a hand to her chin, "Say… are they together?" She asked as she put the tip of her fingers together.

"No, but I'm hoping they develop feelings for each other." Tomoyo said quietly to her friends, "Sakura-chan and Naruto-san are very similar."

"Hmm… Maybe we should try to set them up?" Naoko asked while she folded her hands together, "It could be fun for us and they'll get together!"

Tomoyo lowered her camera while thinking on the subject, "Possibly… But we'll have to proceed very carefully. Naruto-san is more observant then Sakura-chan. Also, we don't want to ruin their friendship, so if things start to turn sour, we'll have to confess to our actions." Tomoyo said, pointing out ever possibility that could happen.

Rika and Naoko both nodded in agreement just as Chiharu walked through the door, "The penguin show is about to begin!"

Before anyone could say anything else, Sakura grabbed Naruto's arm and somehow managed drag him with her at amazing speed for a girl her age as the people she ran by all stopped at the sudden gust of wind blowing their clothes. Sakura stopped at the door on a dime as Naruto stumbled to catch his balance after being dragged, "Come on guys, Hurry!"

"S-She's so quick… and she managed to pull Uzumaki-san with her so easily…" Naoko said quietly as she and Rika both stared at Sakura in shock before they, along with Tomoyo and Chiharu, followed Sakura to the penguin show.

As Sakura chanted as they rode the elevator, Naruto was trying to recall what a penguin was, "Penguin… penguin… It's… a type of bird right?" Naruto asked Sakura quietly while they were on the escalator.

Sakura turned to him looking like he had just grown a second head for a moment before remembering Naruto's statement at the school, _"Oh yeah, this is the first aquarium he's been too. So this would be the first time Naruto-kun would be seeing a lot of this. Plus…" _She thought as she started to remember her dream of Naruto's battle at the valley, _"If that was just with his friend then I can't image on what else he's had to deal with…" _Sakura then smiled as she suddenly took Naruto by the hand, _"Today is about making Naruto-kun feel better, so I won't ask about his home and make sure he has a good time."_ She finished as they reached the top of the escalator. The second they were off she pulled Naruto along again, "This way! You'll get to see a penguin up close!"

Naruto was surprised when Sakura took his hand without warning and was barely able to keep his balance when she pulled him along. As he was pulled Naruto could swear he heard giggling from behind him as he tried to keep his footing. That didn't last long in his mind as Sakura suddenly stopped while he didn't, slamming head first into the tank Sakura had stopped in front of, "Ow…" Naruto groaned as he rubbed the spot where his head had made contact with the glass.

Sakura gasped as she realized what she had caused, "Oh Naruto-kun! I'm sorry! I shouldn't have been pulling you while running like that!" She told him while helping him back to his feet.

"It's okay… But it makes me miss my hitai-ate." Naruto said as he rubbed his forehead as he stood back up.

"Hitai-ate…?" Sakura asked as the rest of the group approached, all with concerned faces for Naruto, having seen his accident.

Naruto winced at the sting of the small bump forming, "The metal plate with Konoha's symbol I wore around my forehead. Very useful for things like this. Although it might have cracked the tank…" He trailed off as he started to remember the day he got his Hitai-ate.

Sakura watched him for a moment before seeing him get that far off look in his eye, _"He's thinking about Konoha again. Today is suppose to be about not thinking about that for him."_ Sakura thought to herself before she nudged Naruto back to reality, "Naruto-kun the show is about to start! This isn't the time to be day dreaming."

Naruto blinked in response as the memory faded from his mind, "Oh sorry. Just remembering one of my favorite memories." He said with a small smile as he looked up to the penguin tank as the trainer walked into the habitat.

Sakura's attention was quickly pulled away from the show hearing Naruto, "Favorite? What was it about?" She asked, now curious seeing as the memory wasn't upsetting Naruto like his dreams.

"Well… It was the day I realized that there were people out there that acknowledged me." Naruto said before retelling the tail of what had happened between him, Iruka, Mizuki, and the forbidden scroll, only leaving out the parts with Kyuubi in it.

Sakura couldn't believe what she had heard from Naruto, "So… no one would acknowledge you before that happened? Why?"

Naruto grimaced at Sakura's question, _"I was hoping she wouldn't ask that…"_ Naruto sighed as he looked away from Sakura, "It's… personal."

Sakura nodded reluctantly before she turned back to the penguin show, "I understand. But I hope you can feel like you can tell me someday." She said with a small smile to Naruto as the people applauded the show.

"Maybe… someday." Naruto said quietly as he and Sakura started to pay more attention to the show, watching the penguins do a variety of tricks with the trainer.

Tomoyo had noticed Sakura's lack of attention to the show which she had enthusiastically pulled Naruto too, but stayed silent as she over heard their conversation. She slowly smiled as the two clapped to the show seeing their cheerful disposition return.

Naruto's mood didn't last long as he noticed something move at the bottom of the tank. He looked down to see a small bit of water moving on its own, looking like a worm in the water, _"What can cause that…?"_ He wondered just before said water snake wrapped itself around the trainer's ankle, quickly pulling her under the water. Everyone looked on in wonder and worry as the trainer struggled to surface. She managed to pull herself about the water using the habitat set, but was unable to pull her leg free. The water formed into a whirlpool from the force holding the trainers leg.

By now Naruto was looking around for a way to help the trainer, _"Why is it there is always never someone who works in the place that has the disaster happening!"_ Naruto thought as he turned back just in time to see a penguin get caught by the whirling waters. Only in a way that made Naruto suspicious, _"Did… the water just grab the penguin?"_ He thought as Sakura started to pound on the tank.

Naruto swore as he saw the penguin being spun around in the water being prevented from surfacing to breath. He looked around again and spotted another way to help, "Sakura-chan wait here!" He said before he pushed through the crowd. Sakura turned to Naruto just in time to see him slam through a door with the sign "employees only".

Naruto stopped after passing through the door, looking around at the many hallways before following the wall as well as the sound of whirling water.

Toya sighed as he picked up the two bucket of small fish in the freezer, "Why do they have to keep these fish so far back of the freezer?" He asked himself as he started for the freezer exit just in time to see Naruto run by. Toya blinked in surprise before hurrying after Naruto, "Hey, you're not suppose to be back here!"

"No time to explain! Have to get to the Penguin tank!" Naruto shouted as he slid to a stop on the polished floor and bolted down another hallway with Toya right behind him.

"_What on Earth is this kid doing?" _Toya thought to himself as he turned the corner to see Naruto pull the door to the penguin tank open.

Sakura gasped as she saw Naruto open the door to the tank and rushed into the water. Toya ran into the room moments later just as Naruto plunged into the water, "What in the world is going on?"

The trainer looked up from where Naruto jumped in the water to Toya, "The penguin got caught in the whirlpool but I can't go save it! I think that boy went in to the water to free it!" Toya quickly followed suit of Naruto as he jumped into the water. As he opened his eyes in the water, he saw Naruto struggling to pull the stream of water holding the trainer and penguin apart.

Air escaped from Naruto's mouth as he failed to free the penguin and trainer, _"Damn it! It's too hard to pull apart by myself!"_ He thought just before he felt someone tap his shoulder. Naruto looked over his shoulder to see Toya behind him. Toya pointed to himself then the stream holding the penguin, then Naruto and the stream holding the trainer. Naruto caught the message and nodded, swimming to the other side. He grabbed the water around the trainer's ankle as Toya grabbed the ring of water around the penguin. The two nodded to each other before they started to pull at the water. The water strained to keep itself together, but failed as the two were blown back by the force of their pulling when water's hold gave way.

Naruto and Toya surfaced seconds later, gasping for air before for a moment before relaxing. Naruto took a deep breath as the crowd showed their relief, "Man… that was close."

The next thing Naruto knew he was being pulled out of the water by the back of his shirt. He looked up to see Toya pulling him out with both hands, "So this is why you were running through the back." Naruto only chuckled nervously as Toya carry to drag him back to lobby.

Sakura and Tomoyo saw Toya carry Naruto out and hurried to the door Naruto had used to get into the back. Minutes later Toya appeared with Naruto in hand, "Next time find someone to tell about the problem."

"I tried to, but for some odd reason whenever something goes wrong every one that works here disappears." Naruto said with a shrug as he was let go before he sneezed.

Sakura looked at Naruto concerned before realizing the situation was worse then it seemed, _"Naruto-kun doesn't have anything else to wear… He's going to get sick unless…" _Sakura thought before she looked up to Toya, "Big brother!" Toya only blinked at Sakura, a little surprised by her sudden call as asked, "Naruto-kun's house is on the other side of town and he needs a change of clothes! Can he… borrow some of yours since our house is closer?"

Toya's expression turned into a slight glare before he closed his eyes, "Father keeps our old clothes in a chest in an attic. There should be something that will fit him in there and they should be clean unless something managed to get into the chest. Now get going. I have to get back to work." Toya said before waving as he walked back into the employee's only section.

Naruto waited until the door shut completely before looking back to Sakura, "I'm perfectly fine you know. It'll take more then some water to make me… Acho!" Naruto sneezed before rubbing under his nose slightly embarrassed.

Tomoyo only smiled at the two before she tapped Sakura on the shoulder and whispered, "Go ahead and take Naruto-san to get changed. I'll cover for you on the project." Sakura smiled at her friend before taking Naruto's hand and forcefully pulled him to her house.

_Back at Sakura's house: A few hours later_

Sakura left Naruto alone at her house with a change of closes while she went back to school to talk with her friends on what had happened at the aquarium. She returned hours later with no new information from her friends, since the aquarium had closed shortly after Sakura and Naruto left. Seeing as their was nothing new to discuss, Sakura decided to go cook a snack for herself, Naruto, and Kero, while Naruto went to take a bath since Sakura pointed out he didn't smell too pleasant after jumping into the penguin tank. As she started to cook, Sakura told Kero a replay of what had happened only to have Kero ask, "Someone almost drowned? You, Sakura?"

"No Kero-chan." Sakura said slightly annoyed, "You weren't really listening to me, were you?" She asked while giving Kero a quick glare.

Kero smiled awkwardly at the glare, "I'm sorry. It's been a while since the last time everyone was gone and I could leave your room, so I'm a little restless." He said before pausing for a moment, then resuming his train of thought as he crossed his arms, "Come to think, you're right. There's no way you would drown, Sakura. You don't have much beyond your athletic abilities."

"What do you mean, not much else?" Sakura yelled as raised the whisk she was using threateningly only to suddenly have an apple slam into Kero, squishing him against the wall. Sakura turned to the direction from where the apple game from and smiled as she saw Naruto standing at the table in average clothes for a change, "Thank you Naruto-kun." (Let your imagination go to work on the average clothes. They're average so… no point in making something up.)

"Anytime." He said as he pulled a chair out and took a seat while Sakura went back to cooking. Minutes later she set down to plates of hotcakes with syrup and butter down for herself and Naruto. Naruto cut a piece of awkwardly, having never used a knife or fork before. After managing to cut a piece he starred at it for a second, "Never seen food like this before…" He eating the piece of hotcake, only to have his eyes widen in surprise, "It's sweet!"

During those minutes, Kero floated over to table grumbling about homicidal ninjas before going back to the topic at hand. As Sakura set down the plates and drinks for the two, Kero simply floated up and down above the table, "But it's even stranger to hear that the one who almost drowned was a penguin."

"Yeah." Sakura agreed as she took a seat next to Naruto, "I went to school while Naruto-kun as in the bath and asked Tomoyo-chan what the adults had said about the incident. She said that they were wondering if it was because the plug for the pool got accidentally pulled out. But I don't think that's quite it." She said as she started to cut into her hotcakes.

"It wasn't." Naruto responded after taking a swallow of his drink, "I went into the tank remember? There wasn't any pull downward. Just around. The water level wasn't going down either. Plus I was able to grab and pull the water holding the trainers leg with Sakura-chan's brother. You can't do that if the water is draining." Naruto said before taking a bite out of his hotcakes.

"You think it could be that too?" Sakura asked while giving a piece of her hotcakes to Kero, who happily took it.

Naruto only nodded before saying, "A Clow card. But the question is what card can make a whirlpool?"

"Well…" Kero started only to jump along with everyone else as door shut while a voice called, "I'm home!"

"Oh no!" Sakura whispered, looking to the hallway only for a moment as Kero started to shovel pieces of hotcake into his mouth. Sakura grabbed him a second later and rushed to the hallway, "Hurry to my room!" She said in a hushed voice as she threw Kero up the stair well. Naruto calmly walked out of the dining room as Sakura whirled around on the stair case, leaning on the hand rail, "W-Welcome home!"

"Yeah." Was all Toya said as he walked by Sakura. He stopped for a moment as he passed Naruto, staring at him before walking into the dinning room.

Sakura only laughed nervously as Toya walked. She stopped after he walked by, turning to him while waving one of her arms, "Hey, hey, Big brother! You were at the aquarium today, right?"

The sound of Toya tapping on the marker board they used to write down what they were doing for the day could be heard as he set down the duffle bag he was caring, "I wrote it down here." Toya then turned back to Naruto, his expression asking a silent question.

Naruto pointed up at the ceiling, "Outside drying." After answering Toya's question, Naruto toned out the rest of the conversation looking around the house curiously, seeing as this was the first time he was allowed to freely roam the house. That is until he noticed Toya's hand reaching for Sakura's fork, which had a piece of hotcake on it. Naruto smirked as he silently moved closer to Toya. Toya glanced down at the plate with the hotcakes, making sure he had a hold of the fork with the piece of food on it.

Naruto only smirked as Toya started to lift the fork off the plate. With a quick slight of hand, Naruto reached up at the same time as Toya with his own fork, only it didn't have any food on it. The next thing Toya knew, he was biting down on only a fork. He looked down at the fork before catching a moment in the corner of his eye. There he saw Naruto spinning the fork between his fingers, _"How did he get that? I know I was holding it when it was on the plate…" _Toya thought to himself before glaring at Naruto, who was munching on the piece of hotcake he had taken, _"There is something not normal about that kid."_

"Sorry for taking so long." A voice suddenly called, causing Sakura to freeze in place, "I was taking my shoes off, and it took longer than I thought. Good afternoon, Sakura-chan, Naruto-san." The voice said as he walked in.

Sakura's expression instantly changed at the sight of Yukito as she started acting nervous, "Y-Yukito-san! G-good afternoon."

Naruto couldn't help but notice Sakura's sudden change in mood, _"I wonder what's up with Sakura-chan." _He thought as she said something quietly while looking down in an attempt to hide her blush. Naruto's train of thought continued on the lines currently laid until Toya's teasing comment, which ended with Sakura stomping on his foot rather painfully as Toya started to shake in pain. Naruto sweat dropped at the sight as his thoughts derailed, _"On second thought… She's not acting all that different at all."_

Naruto then caught the last bit of the conversation as Sakura held her face with a massive blush. Toya and Yuki left the room soon left the room, going up to Toya's room to study. After watching the two leave, Naruto turned back to Sakura as she came out of her dreamy daze, "I'll help make the hotcakes Sakura-chan. I mean I don't know how to cook all that well and… I'll need to know when I manage to scrape up enough money for my own place." He offered, remembering Sakura's reaction to learning of Naruto's ramen habit.

_Flashback:_

"_Eh? You've eaten nothing but ramen all your life?" Sakura yelled as she and Naruto walked home together._

_Naruto shrugged nonchalantly as he said, "Well one of the first people to be nice to me was Teuchi-ojii-chan and Ayame-nee-chan, and they ran a ramen stand. After they fed me one day, I just feel in love with the stuff." Naruto told her before looking away sadly thinking, "It didn't help that they gave me one of my first meals that wasn't scraps or had to be caught…"_

_Sakura didn't notice Naruto's look of sadness as she started to rant, "Well that won't do at all! I'm going to make sure you try a little of everything!" She said, going on for the rest of the day._

_As she did, Naruto couldn't help but think, "The more I learn about her and this world, the more I find myself wanting to protect her and it… Aside from the Clow cards, it's so peaceful here." Naruto thought before looking up as a pair of birds flew by, "I wonder… would me staying here really be all that bad? I mean if I'm here, Akatsuki can't get Kyuubi, and Ero-sennin and Obaa-chan can handle that snake teme." Naruto thought to himself before hearing Sakura call out to him._

"_Naruto-kun! Hurry up! You're falling behind!" She said as she stopped a bit down the road. Naruto blinked, a bit confused before realizing he had stopped walking while he was in thought. Naruto quickly smiled and waved, catching up to Sakura while apologizing repeatedly._

_End of flashback:_

Sakura turn to Naruto a bit surprised by his offer before smiling, "Okay! I'll cook some more while you make some more batter alright?"

Naruto nodded while following Sakura into the kitchen where he gained a small lesson in making hotcakes. This resulted in an accident with the flour sending the powder all over the two, Naruto getting scolded for taking a small bit of batter on his finger and eating it, and Naruto learning that you can't turn the heat up past the instructed settings.

Sakura sighed at the trouble that came with teaching Naruto, "Now you know why you follow the directions."

"I thought turning the heat up would make it cook faster." Naruto said with a shrug while looking at the semi-burnt hotcake on his plate which was already missing pieces of it. Naruto was still covered in patches of white while Sakura had seen fit to clean herself up.

Sakura only shook her head as the two approached the door to Toya's room, "You could have at least cleaned yourself…"

"Didn't have the time." Naruto said with another shrug as he continued to eat his hotcake. When they reached Toya's room, Naruto reached out and knocked for Sakura, seeing as her hands were full with the tray.

Sakura smiled and nodded thanks to Naruto as they both heard, "Thank you for your trouble, Sakura-chan." A voice said before the door opened to show Yukito behind it. He then noticed Naruto standing next to her, "Seems like you helped." He said with an amused laugh.

Naruto chuckled a bit as he rubbed the back of his head, "Yeah I had an accident with the floor… acho!" Naruto suddenly sneezed at the end of his sentence, causing all the remaining floor fly of his body and clothing and form a cloud flour around him.

After exchanging thanks the two went back into Sakura's room. Naruto, having gone in first, turned around to Sakura when he heard her slide down the door to the floor. Thinking something was wrong, Naruto quickly knelt down by Sakura's side, "Sakura-chan! Are you alright?" He asked as he put his forehead down to hers.

The suddenly contact made Sakura come back to reality to see Naruto right there. This made her blush deeply, mainly from how close Naruto was to her, but a small amount from seeing Naruto's eyes close up for the first time, _"They're really pretty… It's like looking at sapphires…" _Sakura thought before remembering just how close Naruto was, "N-No I'm fine! I was thinking of something rather embarrassing." She said before laughing nervously.

Naruto moved back from Sakura and watched as she moved over to Kero, who was sitting on her bed thinking vigorously on the incident at the aquarium, "This one might be a little tricky this time…" Kero muttered before looking up only to see Sakura and Naruto staring down at him. This caused Kero to jump into the air before patting his chest as he tried to catch his breath. When he did, he turned around pointing at the two, "Don't do that! You're going to give me a heart attack sneaking up on me!"

"What are you, an old man?" Naruto asked tapping Kero in the head, only to have Kero try and swat his hand away.

"Quit that!" Kero yelled before looking up at the two, "With what happened at the aquarium, I assume that both the trainer and the penguin nearly drowned in the water." Kero paused, getting a nod from Naruto and Sakura before continuing, "And when it was happening, did either of you see who was trying to drown them?"

Sakura shook her head before answering Kero, "No, I saw nothing… just water swirling about."

"But when I made it to the tank and jumped it, I was able to grab onto the water." Naruto added while scratching his cheek, "If I know my elements right, you can't grab water like I did by normal means."

"That confirms it for me. It's the water card, WATERY." Kero said with what seemed to be a rather upset sigh.

Sakura didn't take notice to the sigh as she clapped her hands together, "Just as I thought! So all we have to do is capture it and turn it back into a card!"

Kero just shook his head, "It won't be that easy. Water inside water… You can't see WATERY with your eyes."

Naruto simply shrugged as he said, "So we just lure it out of the water."

Kero shook his head again, raising one paw, "Even if you could pull it out of the water… If it disperses into tiny pieces, we can't really control it. It's hard to capture things with no solid shapes, like water… WATERY is also one of the higher magic spells in the Clow cards too. Furthermore, WATERY is an offensive card, so it's got quiet a temper." Naruto at this point had started to rub his chin in thought as Kero turned his side to the two, waving his arm as he counted the cards, "The cards you have now are WINDY, FLY, and SHADOW." He then turned away from them with his arms crossed, "They're no match for what we're facing…"

Sakura crossed her arms with an annoyed stare before Naruto snapped his fingers as he hatched an idea. Sakura watched Naruto move to the other side of the room and begin to meditate as Kero continued his explanation, "For instance, even if you used WINDY, another high-level magic, you can't win against WATERY. That's because WINDY is too kind…"

"Kuchiyose no jutsu!" A shout came from Naruto before half the room was filled with smoke. Sakura and Kero both covered their mouth to stop themselves from breathing in the smoke, only to have the smoke suddenly vanish.

There in the middle of where the cloud came from was a rather large toad in their opinion. They were shocked even more when the toad waved to Naruto, "Yo Naruto! Watch ya need?"

"HOE? A TALKING TOAD?" Sakura yelled out in complete surprise before she covered her mouth. The voice of Toya and Yukito could be heard muttering something about Sakura watching TV.

Gamakichi turned to the source of the yell and waved, "Hiya! I'm Gamakichi! You two must be friends of Naruto here or I doubt he would have summoned me."

"Yeah. She's Kinomoto Sakura and that's Kero." Naruto answered pointed from one to the other.

Sakura only blinked for a second , completely missing the introduction, before reaching out and poking Gamakichi on the head before pulling back, "You're real! I thought Naruto-kun might be pulling a trick…" Sakura said rubbing the back of her head halfway through the sentence.

"That's mean Sakura-chan! When have I ever pranked you?" Naruto pouted before turning away with his arms crossed.

Sakura giggled a bit before smiling at Naruto, _"He's starting to be happy again. I'm glad."_

"Anyway, what did you call me for Naruto?" Gamakichi asked after he finished laughing at the scene in front of him.

Naruto paused for a moment before pounding his fist into his palm lightly, "Oh yeah! I needed to ask you something. How do you catch water that's inside water?"

Gamakichi stared at Naruto before only saying, "What?"

"I guess that didn't make much sense…" Naruto said scratching his head before trying to explain again, "Okay, basic run down is we're trying to catch a magical being that is made of water. However it is hiding in aquarium, a place that has hundreds of types of fish there in tanks of water. The thing we are trying to catch is hiding there in the water. We need to know how to separate water from water, then contain it."

Gamakichi hummed to himself as he started to rub his chin. After a minute of silence Gamakichi shook his head slowly, "I'm sorry Naruto. I can't think of anyway to make the two separate." This made Sakura and Naruto hang there heads in before they perked back up as Gamakichi said, "However, I do know how to contain it." He said smiling before pointing at himself, "Summon a bigger toad! We can easily hold gallons of water inside us!"

Naruto smiled at the idea instantly, "That could work!" This caused Sakura's mood to brighten as well until she heard, "But… I can only summon you and the boss Gama…"

"Don't worry. I have an idea for that too." Gamakichi said as he held out a webbed hand above the ground, "Say it takes you this much chakra in your world to summon me… and this much here." Gamakichi said as he doubled the height of his hand off the floor, "Normally your amount of chakra makes it really hard for you to control how much you use to summon for a specific toad. But in this world…" Gamakichi smiled as he raised his hand more too where it was about half of the previous height higher, "It can make it much simpler. Just add about half of what you already use to summon me and you should get a decent sized toad to hold the water in!"

"That won't work." Kero suddenly interjected as he walked up to Gamakichi, "Yes the water can be held, but Sakura can't seal it while it's in the toad. The toad would have to spit the water out and the second it did, WATERY would disperse itself to avoid being captured."

Sakura started to deflate at the rejection of the idea before she heard Naruto say, "Well let's not toss this idea out the window. Now at least we have a way to transport WATERY into a more secure area. Now all we have to do is figure out a way to make it where it can't get away from us. Maybe I can find a room in the aquarium with no way out other then the door… and if the door is water proof the card won't have anywhere else to go!"

Kero opened his mouth to rebuttal only to have Gamakichi cheer, "There you go! You'll never know until you try! And if you need help you can summon me in this aquarium place."

Naruto nodded as Sakura smiled softly. However in the back of her mind she felt a little depressed, _"Naruto-kun is being so helpful and I… I haven't done anything to help on how to catch WATERY… I feel like a burden on him... He would make a much better card captor then me."_

Naruto nodded to Gamakichi and Kero, who with a little convincing, moved on board for the idea, all pumped their arms into the air with a cheer. He never noticed Sakura's smile slowly move to a frown. Gamakichi then waved at the three, "Well I better go before someone walks in on us. Let me know how the capture goes! Also Naruto, Ero-sennin said he'll have the scroll ready by next week." Naruto nodded to Gamakichi before he poofed away to his home.

Kero chuckled a bit as Gamakichi disappeared, "I like him. You should summon him more often."

"I'll see what I can do about that later." Naruto said before he stood up, "I'd better start scouting the Aquarium while they still have it closed off." Naruto headed for the window, only to stop halfway out with a sweat drop, "That's right… I'd better leave through the door." He said as he closed the window then headed for the door. As he passed Sakura, he noticed the intense stare she was giving the ground and frown, "Sakura-chan… Is something wrong?"

Sakura snapped back to reality when she heard her name and laughed nervously for the second time that day, "E-Everything is fine, Naruto-kun. I'm just… trying to think of how to capture WATERY."

Naruto only smiled and patted his chest with his fist, "Just leave that to me! I'll be at your window by nightfall." Naruto told her before walking out of the door. He stealthy made his way out of the house and took off towards the aquarium. When he arrived, he smiled, seeing it was still empty of people seeing as no one was walking in or out of the building.

Sneaking into the building was a snap for Naruto as he used a henge to look like he had when he first arrived in Sakura's world. He crept around the back rooms silently, clinging onto pipes running along the ceiling whenever someone would walk by or duck down into or behind various objects. He soon made his way to the very aware where the trouble had started, the penguin tank. However Naruto was severely disappointed by what he saw, "Damn it they drained the tank!" He whispered as he walked over to the edge of the terrarium and knelt down, "Checking the water is out… I guess looking for a room to hold WATERY in is next." He said as he stood back up and headed for the hallway.

However the second he exited the room he over heard two employees walk by talking, "Yeah we're locking up in ten minutes. No one is getting in or out tonight."

"Great…" Naruto sighed before taking off down the hall, "No point in getting locked in now." (**Yeah I know short investigation. Well you can only put so much detail and this actually serves another purpose.**)

Naruto made it out of the aquarium without a problem. He hid in the nearby trees to drop the henge before walking out onto the street. But the moment he did, a person put their feminine hand on his shoulder, "Hey…"

Naruto tensed up at the hand as he started to sweat bullets, _"Oh shit… Please don't say she saw me! Please don't say she saw me! Please don't say she saw me!"_ Naruto thought to himself in a slight panic as he slowly looked over his shoulder to see a woman dressed in business clothes.

"I saw you today." The woman said as she used her other hand to pull off her sunglasses as Naruto paled completely, "You are the boy on our security cameras that helped our penguin and trainer." The woman said before she smiled, lifting her hand off Naruto as he let out the breath he had been holding, "I'd like to thank you for that. If there is something you wish to have from the aquarium, please let me know."

Naruto watched the lady cautiously before an idea popped in his head, "Actually there is something I can use… Can I have a job?"

The lady looked a bit surprise by the odd request from the boy standing in front of her. Unfortunately, as Naruto took it, he saw her frown, "I am sorry… but our positions are filled." She said as she watched Naruto frown at her. Seeing the boy become downhearted made her think for a moment before smiling, "However, I do have this." The woman said before pulling out a pair of tickets, "All access passes for a day."

Naruto sighed at the passes, but decided to not be rude and accepted the gift, "Thank you! I think I know who I'll take with me!" He said before running off.

The lady could only watch him bewildered by Naruto's behavior as he ran off, "What kind of kid asks for a job as a reward…?"

Within minutes Naruto had reached the Penguin Park, laughing to his hearts content. He didn't notice a familiar face turn around to stare at him as he approached until he heard, "Naruto-san?"

Naruto skid to a stop as he turned to the source of the voice to see Tomoyo as he slid by. Tomoyo watched as Naruto slid by before wincing at the sound of Naruto crashing into a trash can, then moved to help him. Naruto however, was already standing again by the time she made it near him, "This is why people should stick to dirt roads… You don't slide around as much."

"I don't think many other people would agree with you Naruto-san." Tomoyo said with a slight giggle, "So what brings you out so late in the afternoon?"

"I was scouting out the aquarium since we have to catch the card their." Naruto answered while dusting himself off before pulling the empty cup off his head, "But they drained the tank and since they're locking the building up tonight, I had to leave before I could find anything."

"That's too bad. I'm waiting for my body guards to arrive." Tomoyo responded with her usual smile.

Naruto nodded as he kicked the trash can back up, watching as it landed perfectly in place before saying, "I'll stick around until they do if you want."

"Sakura-chan may need your assistance more then I do though." Tomoyo told Naruto while grabbing her chin in a thoughtful manner.

"Sakura-chan will be fine. Toya and Yukito are there." Naruto said with a shrug before looking away while rubbing his head, "She'd probably scold me for leaving you here anyway."

Tomoyo watched Naruto turn away with an irritated look at the thought of being scolded before giggling, "Maybe so. Although I have the feeling you're the only person she would scold."

"Is that suppose to make me laugh or something?" Naruto asked as his eye brow twitched in annoyance as he looked back at Tomoyo.

Tomoyo giggled a bit more before calming down, "It simply means Sakura-chan sees you as a close friend after all you've done in the past week."

Naruto's eyes widened a bit from this bit of information, "Really? I kinda feel like a burden to her… I mean she's risking a lot just to give me a place to sleep, sneaks me food at night, and even lies to her family to cover for me."

"Oh that isn't the case at all." Tomoyo said cheerfully as the two started to walk over to the swing set in the park, "I'm sure Sakura-chan helps you because she values your friendship and appreciates all the help you give her."

Naruto didn't answer for a minute before he let out a half hearted chuckle, "I never noticed… Everyone back home always said I was the number one unpredictable knuckle headed ninja. I guess that applies to noticing other people's feelings."

"To a point perhaps. But you do always notice when someone is troubled." Tomoyo countered as she took a seat on one of the swings, "Also, you put others before yourself even in dire situations without hesitation. It's quiet heroic."

Naruto by now was blushing slightly at the praise as he rubbed the back of his head with a large grin, "You think so? I just react to what I see really." He said before looking up to the sky as it started to turn a slight orange, "Sakura-chan is lucky. I always dreamed of having an adventure like she is."

"That is rather surprising coming from a ninja." Tomoyo said as she rocked back and forth on the swing, "I would think, as a ninja, you would be having a different adventure all the time?"

Naruto's response was a shaking of his head as he leaned onto the swing set stand, "It's not the same. Sakura-chan is saving the world from a catastrophe! If everyone found out about that they would see her as a hero! That's the kind of adventure I wanted so everyone in my village would finally respect me!" Naruto said loudly as he held his fist up.

"I see… Though a rather odd achievement to strive for. Why would you want everyone in your village to respect you?" Tomoyo asked with a curious look.

Naruto deflated instantly as he recalled the reason for his dream. His sudden silence took Tomoyo by surprise as the sound of the wind filled the air for a moment before Naruto said, "It's…. personal…" He said as he looked away from Tomoyo. Tomoyo watched Naruto even more curious then before as he looked back up to the sky, "Anyway, I guess it's a good thing Sakura-chan became the Card Captor instead of me. She's very good at adapting to situations. I would just rush in and wing it like I always do." Naruto said as his grin slowly returned.

Tomoyo smiled as Naruto's mood returned, but a part of her mind couldn't help but think to herself, _"His mood changed when I asked about his reason for being respected… I wonder what could cause such an instant change to such a courageous person."_ Tomoyo of course didn't say a word of her thoughts, being respectful of Naruto's privacy.

"Miss, it is time to go." The voice of Tomoyo's body guard was heard from across the park.

Naruto and Tomoyo both turned to see Tomoyo's body guards approaching. Tomoyo smiled as she stood up off the swing before turning to Naruto. She gave a polite bow as she said, "It's time for me to go. Thank you for the company Naruto-san."

"Anytime Tomoyo." Naruto said with a wave as Tomoyo walked away with her guards. When they were out of sight, Naruto took off into the sky heading back to Sakura's house before the night set in.

_Time skip: next day at school_

The night and half of the day had gone by rather fast for Sakura as she continued to think about the night before. Naruto was off surveying the aquarium again, mainly due to boredom, as he had told Sakura by a note during her first period. This didn't help Sakura's mood as her thoughts continued down their path,_ "Naruto-kun is strong, fast, and can deal with anything! All I am is a normal school girl… He would make a much better Card Captor then me. But Kero-chan is so stubborn…"_

_Flashback:_

"_Kero-chan… Maybe you should make Naruto-kun the Card Captor instead of me…" Sakura suddenly said shortly after Naruto had left._

_Kero turned around to Sakura surprised by the comment, "What? Why? He's no different from you besides being a ninja!"_

_Sakura looked down at the floor dejected as she said, "That's exactly why. He would be better suited to handle this then me. Naruto-kun was trained for things like this… I think." Sakura added as she grabbed her chin as she wondered about Naruto's training._

_Kero shook his head at Sakura, "Sakura, if I did that, then I would be taking Naruto's right to return home away from him for one. And two, he's too head strong to be the Card Captor. He would rush right into things without thinking where you would see how to handle it."_

_End of flashback:_

The argument had gone back and forth like that until Naruto had returned, where it died completely so as he wouldn't hear it. However the thoughts lingered in Sakura's mind through out the night. Tomoyo took notice of her closest friend's depressed mood as time ticked by.

The recess bell soon rang, allowing the students to freely roam the school yard. Sakura mindless walked throughout the school yard with Tomoyo following her. After minutes of silence, Tomoyo finally decided to act, "You don't look to cheerful right now, Sakura-chan."

Sakura stopped in both walk and thought as Tomoyo's words rang in her ears. She quickly turned around, waving her hands, "N-No, I'm fine…"

Tomoyo didn't believe a word of it as she walked up Sakura and gently took her hands, "It looks like a great challenge, so typical for upholders of justice, has fallen on your shoulders."

Despite the strange behavior, Tomoyo's words brought a small smile to Sakura's face for a moment. The two went to an isolated area of the school yard, where Sakura told what was weighing on her mind, "I feel like… I'm being a burden to Naruto-kun and Kero-chan…"

"How so?" Tomoyo asked Sakura as the two took a seat on the grass, "It seemed to me that you three were getting along wonderfully."

"We're not fighting or anything…" Sakura answered as she looked down at the ground, "But… when we were talking about how to catch the WATERY card at the aquarium, I didn't help at all. Naruto-kun and Gamakichi came up with the idea to use another toad to safely move WATERY around…"

"Gama… kichi?" Tomoyo asked puzzled when Sakura paused.

Sakura blinked before she realized she hadn't explained everything, causing her to blush slightly in embarrassment, "Oh I'm sorry. I should start from the beginning." Sakura then retold the entire event of the day to Tomoyo. When she finished, Sakura sighed as she looked to the sky, "He and Gamakichi came up with the plan in no time… And all I did was sit there."

"I see. But you know Naruto-san doesn't think that you're a burden. In fact, he sees it as the other way around." Tomoyo said with a sly smile as she continued, "Because you're risking so much to help him, Naruto-san feels the need to do his best to repay your kindness. He also thinks you are better suited for being the Card Captor then he is."

It was Sakura's turn to be surprised as she heard these words, "But… he's so much stronger then I am. How can he think I would be better?"

"We had a conversation yesterday while I was waiting for my body guards to pick me up. He said that he would be to head strong where as you look at the situation before solving it." Tomoyo answered while holding up her finger, "Naruto-san may be stronger, but only because he is more accustomed to acting under pressure as well as training physically daily."

Sakura stared at Tomoyo, shocked by what she had heard before she turned to the sky, "But still… He's still being a big help to me and I don't know how to help him…"

Tomoyo agreed with Sakura silently on this before she thought of an idea, "What if you showed Naruto-san the rest of the aquarium?" Sakura turned back to Tomoyo with a puzzled look as she explained, "I have noticed Naruto-san seemed a bit stressed over the past week and he seemed to be having fun while we were there. Since we had to leave early, Naruto-san didn't get a chance to see all the aquarium has to offer. It might not be much, but it will no doubt mean a lot to him."

Sakura thought about it for a minute before smiling brightly, "That's a great idea! To be honest, I was trying to cheer him up the first time we went, but then the Clow Card acted up."

Tomoyo returned the smile, glad to have been able to help. However behind that smile were thoughts for friendly deception, _"It may not be a real date for them, but it's a start. And I'll be there to film everything!"_

The school day went by quickly as Sakura was now cheerful again. As the two were on their way home, they stayed together part of the way. Sakura was silent most of the way before she skated ahead and stopped, turning to Tomoyo, "Tomoyo-chan, thanks for listening to my story." She said suddenly with her normal cheerful smile.

"That smile is best on you, Sakura-chan." Tomoyo replied before seeming to remember something as she reached into her bag, "Oh yes, this is for you." She said as she pulled out a pink cell phone and raised its antenna, "It's a new product from my mother's company. This is yours Sakura-chan." Tomoyo then handed Sakura the phone before pulling out two more, only one was black and the other the same pink color, "The black one is for Naruto-san and the other for Kero. I changed the color for Naruto-san since he may be sneaking around when we contact him and pink is a little too noticeable for a stealthy ninja."

Sakura couldn't help but sweat drop as her brow twitched, _"Well… Naruto-kun was wearing a full orange jumpsuit before… So not being noticed doesn't seem to be the thing Naruto-kun worried about…"_ She thought to herself before looking over the three cell phones she was holding, "Are you sure…" She started as she looked back up to Tomoyo, "… that we can borrow these?"

"Of course. My Okaa-sama wants to know if they're easy to use, as well." Tomoyo answered as she closed her bag.

Sakura smiled and held the phones to her chest, "Thanks for worrying about me." Tomoyo only giggled in response before the two resumed on their way home. After they went their separate ways, Sakura started to think about the card again, _"Kero-chan said that WATERY wouldn't be active unless someone went into the tank like with the trainer… That gives us some time but if we don't figure out how to catch it soon someone may get hurt… It's frustrating…"_ She thought as she turned the corner to her street, _"I'll wait for Naruto-kun to return and see if we can figure out something."_

_Meanwhile: hours before_

Naruto had no luck getting into the aquarium, mainly do to it being under lock and key with the maintenance crew trying to make sure everything was working. So now he wandered around town in more of Toya's old clothing, seeing as Sakura felt the need to clean Naruto's clothing. He mainly looked between buildings for any form of "help wanted" signs. He wasn't having much luck so far and was now heading to a place a random passerby had told him about when he over heard Naruto muttering about finding a job.

"It should be right… here." Naruto said as he turned to the building as he stopped. He looked up at the sign on top of the building that simply said "Metal works". "Not much imagination when it comes to the name…" Naruto said with a sweat drop before shrugging, "But if I can get a job here, I won't complain." He said as he walked in.

_Back at Sakura's house:_ **(Ha! You'll see if Naruto got the job or not next chapter X3 I have reason for this.)**

Naruto sighed as he landed outside Sakura's window, "What a day… I can't believe that all happened…" He said as he knocked on Sakura's window. The locked clicked, allowing Naruto entry. He hopped into the room quietly before sitting down on the floor, "I've had one heck of a day…"

"What happened?" Sakura asked as she walked in, having opened the door just in time to hear Naruto. Kero floated over to him, seeing as he was the one that unlocked the window, and took a seat on Naruto's head awaiting an answer.

Naruto glanced at Sakura before looking around at the floor, "I'll show you." He said as he grabbed the television remote and hit the power button, turning it on. The screen came to life before Naruto flipped through the channels until he came to a news report.

The anchorwoman was standing in the middle of town with her finger to her ear piece, "Today at the shopping district was a scene that could only be describe as beyond supernatural. During our investigation of the mysterious vandalism of the elementary school last week, we watched and taped a scene so amazing, it makes you wonder if it was done by a regular human being. A robbery attempt was thwarted a strange boy wrapped in bandages. Here is direct footage from the scene." The woman said, signaling her cameraman to do the playback.

The screen went to static for a moment before it came back to life, only the clock showed it was a few hours earlier. The anchorwoman was talking with people about the destruction of the school when the sound of tires screeching along with sirens caught everyone's attention. The entire crowd turned to the street as the news reporter and cameraman rushed to the edge of the sidewalk. There they saw a car speeding towards them with police hot on their tail. The reporter, being professional, did her job, "It seems there is a high-speed chase in progress heading right for us! The driver is leading… wait what' that?"

Sakura watched the screen with full attention as the cameraman zoomed into to the criminal's car in astonishment. Out of nowhere, a familiar looking, bandage and torn pants wearing, figure appeared on the hood of the car with a blue sphere in his hand. Sakura gasped as she realized what was going on, _"That's Naruto-kun! He looks like he did when I first met him!"_ Sakura thought before realizing he had wrapped gauze bandages around his head.

As the film rolled, Naruto slammed his Rasengan into the hood and engine of the car. Said engine went from being a part of the car to part of the street as it shot down into the asphalt. The sudden force also caused the car to stop as it flipped up, standing on the remains of the front end of the car. The groans of the two criminals could be heard as the police caught up to the wrecked vehicle. Naruto looked up at the police vehicles before simply disappearing from view.

"As you can see, the boy simply disappears from sight. However if we slow down the tape…" The voice of the news reporter said before the video of Naruto jumping off the car started again, only going much slower. Slow enough to show Naruto leaping off of the car out of sight. The video cut off and showed the anchorwoman again, "We are currently looking for information on the strange boy."

After that, Naruto cut off the television, "After that I had to stop a group of bullies, helped push one of those giant mechanical monsters that pulls the big box on wheels up a hill, and wound up helping a bunch of people look for a lost dog, which we found." He said before falling back onto the floor, "All of that just from looking for a job… Ero-sennin was right, I am a trouble magnet."

Sakura sweat dropped, deciding not to chew out Naruto for what he did only because he was helping people. She took a deep breath before smiling again, "Well… It was nice you helped out all of those people. By the way, what are you doing tomorrow?"

"Nothing, why?" Naruto asked as he looked over to Sakura while sitting up.

Sakura smiled slightly nervous as she said, "I figured with everything that's happened the last few days, you and me could go see the rest of the aquarium. Since we couldn't see everything the first time, I figured I would show you the rest of the aquarium! I know catching the card is important and you're looking for a job but… a day of fun couldn't hurt could it?"

Naruto seemed to think about this before muttering, "Well I did want to see the sharks and not risk being eaten by them…"

Sakura's smile softened as she watched the boy from another world start to wonder curiously again, "Okay then, we're going to the aquarium tomorrow!"

Naruto nodded before yawning, "Man what a day… Using so many clones and a Rasengan in one day. I'm going to turn in early." He said before walking over to the closet. Although it was a small space seeing as Sakura's dresser was in one side of the closet, Naruto couldn't complain seeing as it was inside, warm, and no one saw him in it.

Sakura watched as Naruto walked into the closet and pulled the door shut from the inside. She sighed shortly after the door shut before reaching over for the television and turning it back on, "Adjusting to a new world must be hard. He could have probably done that back home with no effort at all. Here it's so taxing on him." She said quietly while watching the news go on about Naruto.

"He'll pull through." Kero suddenly spoke as he floated over to her, "Naruto doesn't seem like the type to let something like a little effort bother him." The two remained silent after that, not having much else to say.

_The next day:_

"So… you hit these numbers then this weird button and you can talk to anyone?" Naruto asked as he stared at the cell phone Sakura had given him that morning.

Sakura smiled as she watched Naruto try to figure out the contraption in his hand, "Yeah, but it has to be a specific number. I made sure to write the ones down that you need." She said while pulling out folded piece of paper and handing it to Naruto.

Naruto simply took the paper and tucked it away in his pocket. He was still staring at the phone as the two approached the aquarium. As they got in line for the entrance, Sakura opened her bag to get out the money to pay when Naruto suddenly held out a ticket to her, "The boss lady saw me walking past here and gave me two all access passes for a day. I really didn't know what I was going to do with them until now."

"That's convenient." Sakura said in slight awe as they both started into the aquarium. However the second they reached the door, Naruto stopped and started to look around. Sakura noticed Naruto's sudden uneasiness, "What's wrong?"

"I don't know…" Naruto answered before slowly turning back to Sakura, "I just have this weird feeling we're being followed."

Sakura blinked in confusion before a thought occurred to her, causing her to laugh lightly before saying, "Are you nervous?"

"I don't know… maybe." Naruto answered honestly as he looked around one last time, _"I've never been too happy with large amounts of people because of the way people would treat me… When I was with Sakura-chan and her friends it wasn't so bad since there were so many of us in a group. But it's only Sakura-chan and me… There's no telling what can happen."_

"You need to relax!" Sakura said to Naruto with a giggle as she grabbed his hand, "Come on, we need to hurry if we want to see everything!" Sakura then pulled Naruto along into the aquarium.

Unknown to the two they were actually being followed by a familiar looking girl with a camera and plush toy, "That was close. It seems Naruto-san can tell when people are watching him."

"He's a ninja, what did you expect?" The plush toy responded as it peered over the girl's shoulder, "We'll just have to proceed carefully. This will give me a chance to see if a Clow Card is here as well."

"And I can film Sakura-chan's first date on video!" Tomoyo added as she turned to Kero. The two smiled at each other before high fiving, then running after Sakura and Naruto.

Meanwhile Sakura and Naruto were both staring at a rather large, flat fish as it slowly swam by, "… Is that a fish?"

"A really big one!" Sakura answered in a small amazement.

Naruto cocked his eyebrow at the fish, "I've never seen one that looked flat before. I wonder what it would taste like."

"Wouldn't it be too big for one person?"

"Sakura-chan, I've taken almost all of your school's left over food on a daily basis." This made Sakura sweat drop a bit as she agreed.

Hiding behind a nearby tank were Tomoyo and Kero, "Naruto-san is starting to relax."

"That or he's good at hiding the tension." Kero said just before a kid reached over and patted his head rather hard, much to Kero's annoyance. He only turned to said child with an attempt to act cool, "Young one. You'll get hurt if you mess with me." The kid slowly backed away from Kero, grabbing onto the pants of his mother while staring at Kero afraid.

At that moment, Sakura and Naruto decided to move on. The two mainly followed the map until they came up to an enormous fish tank, "Sugoi! Sugoi! Sugoi!" Sakura shouted as she stared into the tank, "We couldn't see this room the last time we were here!" **(Sugoi means amazing for those that don't know. I figured it would sound better then "amazing" three times over.)**

"Because of WATERY." Naruto said quietly, making sure no one over heard. His train of thought was interrupted by the scent of food. Sakura looked at Naruto inquisitively as he started to sniff the air, "Something smells good!" He said before looking over the railing to the nearby tearoom. As he looked over the railing he noticed a familiar face walking by, "Is that Toya?"

This made Sakura look over the railing as Toya looked up at them, having heard his name, "Big brother!" She and Naruto quickly made their way down too the area, taking a seat at a table. Sakura looked up at her big brother as they sat in the chairs, "Did you change jobs from where the penguins were?"

"They drained all the water from the tanks and are doing an inspection." Toya answered before glaring at Naruto, "Why are you here with him?"

Sakura started to answer, however all words fell on deaf ears for Naruto as he turned away from Toya, staring down at the table, _"Why is he glaring at me…? What did I do?"_

This went unnoticed by Sakura, but not Toya, _"What's with that reaction? Just because I glared at him?"_ Toya thought as he stared at Naruto's eyes. They seemed almost empty, lacking any emotion but deep sadness. Toya only became more concerned, _"I must have struck a painful nerve by glaring at him…" _This made Toya give an unhappy sigh, _"Guess I'll make it up to him."_

"Big brother?" Sakura asked, confused on why Toya had suddenly gone silent.

"Don't worry about it. I'll get you two some snow-cones, my treat." Toya told them then walked off before either Sakura or Naruto could ask why.

Sakura only blinked at her brother as he walked away, "That… was strange. My Big brother is never that nice." That's when Sakura took a second thought to Toya's sentence, _"Snow-cones… why does that make me think of WATERY?"_

Naruto stayed silent, even more confused then Sakura, _"First he glared at me… then is treating us to snow-cones…?" _As Naruto tried to make sense of Toya's actions, he soon found himself sighing and hanging his head, _"I'll never understand some of the people in this world."_

"Naruto-kun?" Naruto looked up to see Sakura staring at him with concerned eyes, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah…" That was Naruto's one worded answer. To Sakura, it sounded unsure.

She hummed to herself for a moment before realizing what she thought was bothering Naruto, "Don't worry Naruto-kun! Big brother treats any guy that meets me like that for some reason."

Naruto nodded at Sakura before he felt a pressure in his abdomen. He hopped out of his chair rather quickly, "I gotta use the bathroom." Naruto told Sakura quietly before walking over to the bar rather quickly where Toya was standing, "Hey, where is the bathroom!"

"Up the stairs and on the left. Just follow the railing up there." Toya answered while he prepared the snow-cones. He glanced over at Naruto for a second before deciding to say, "I'm sorry for the glare. I'm just looking out for my little sister. I'm sure you know the feeling."

"I don't actually." Naruto said solemnly as his sadness from earlier returned with even more force.

Toya nodded as he grabbed the glass filled with flavoring juice, "Oh no siblings?"

Naruto didn't directly answer Toya. This made Toya wonder before he barely heard Naruto say, "No family…" With that Naruto walked off, completely unaware Toya had heard what he said.

Toya could only stare at Naruto in shock as he set the glass he had just grabbed back down, _"No family? But Sakura said he was home schooled by his mother. So either she knows and lied about him for him… or he lied to her as well. But the question is why…?"_ Toya watched as Naruto went up the stairs before finishing the two snow-cones. As he did he glanced over his shoulder at Sakura, who was sitting patiently for Naruto's return, _"I'll see what Sakura has to say about this."_ Toya placed the two snow-cones into a holding stand then carried them over to Sakura. He placed them on the table and simply watched as Sakura gasped in happiness before taking a snow-cone. However before she could even lick it, Toya suddenly asked, "Say Sakura… I was talking with Naruto a second ago and heard something concerning. Why would he say he doesn't have any family?"

Sakura nearly bite her tongue is surprise and was barely able to stop herself from dropping her snow cone, _"Naruto-kun doesn't have any…!" _She started to think before the last word registered in her mind, _"Family…"_ This lead Sakura to only stare at her snow-cone. She couldn't think of anything to say. What could she say? She had just discovered a person who had become a close friend to her in a matter of days had supposedly no one to go back home too.

"Sakura?" Toya called out, bring Sakura back to reality.

Sakura blinked a few times before staring at the snow-cone in her hands sadly, saying in almost a whisper, "I… don't know…"

Toya could see his sister was troubled by what he had said, but still wouldn't say why, _"I'll just have to keep an on him until I find out why he said that myself."_ "I have to get back to work." With that Toya walked off, leaving Sakura to her thoughts.

Coincidently, Naruto had happened to bump into two familiar faces. Well more like sneak up on as he silently stopped behind the disguised Tomoyo and Kero, "So you two were the ones following us." Tomoyo and Kero jumped at Naruto's voice and quickly whipped around to see Naruto staring at them, "My question right now is why?"

"Uh… I wanted to see if there really was a card here and didn't want to interrupt you two! So I asked Tomoyo for help!" Kero partially lied, sweating nervously as he hoped Naruto would by it.

Naruto stared at Kero for a minute before shrugging, "Makes sense. Oh by the way…" Naruto said as he pulled out his cell phone and the list of numbers, "How do I put the numbers into this thing?"

Tomoyo only smiled at not being exposed as Kero went limp after having his nerves so worked up. However the moment didn't last for long as the sound of glass cracking filled the room. The three turned to the direction of the sound just in time to see part of the tank rupture, allowing gallons of water to pour down on the floor below. Everyone rushed to the railing just in time to see Sakura be engulfed by water. "Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo called out before turning to Naruto, only to have to suddenly have his phone and paper of numbers stuck in her free hand. She then heard a splash as she looked at the phone before looking back to were Naruto was standing, only to see no one there.

The second Sakura felt the water pour down onto her, she took in as much air as she could and held her breath out of reaction. It took her a minute to regain her bearings before she noticed something wrong. She wasn't floating to the surface and something was around her ankle. She sat up in the water to see nothing but spiraling water holding her into place, _"WATERY!"_ Sakura thought before grabbing her throat as her lungs started to feel strained for oxygen. She closed one eye and looked back at WATERY holding her ankle, _"If I don't do something… I'll drown!"_

Sakura closed her eye as she tried to figure out how to escape when she felt the water start to flow, which shouldn't have been possible. She looked up just in time to see a blue sphere slam into the whirling waters around her ankle. The water strained to keep itself held together, but the sphere was far too strong. The current faded out of sensible existence as did the sphere attacking it. Sakura turned to the hand holding the sphere and smiled for a moment before the lack of air made it known to her again.

Sakura quickly swam to the surface, gasping for air. Naruto smiled to himself when he saw Sakura was safe before trying to head to the swim to the surface himself, only to feel something grab his leg. He looked down to see the same swirling water around his leg, only this time it seemed much more angry. Naruto grabbed the water as he did before and tried to pull the water apart only to suddenly see an extremely angry face. This made Naruto grimace with only one thought, _"This… is going to hurt…"_

Sakura gasped for fresh air the second her head appeared above water, not realizing Naruto wasn't behind her. "Sakura!" Toya called out when he spotted her surface. He quickly dove swam over to her and gently wrapped an arm around her chest, pulling her over to the spiral stair case. There he gently picked her up and carried her up to the top of the stairs where Tomoyo and Kero were waiting.

"Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo yelled as she crouched down next to her friend.

"I thought I was going to die! If it wasn't for Naruto-kun…" Sakura started to say before pausing, looking back down to the water, "Wait where's Naruto-kun!"

Sakura's question was answered as a small area started to bubble before seeming to erupt with the force of volcano. The pillar of water slammed into the ceiling in the blink of an eye. But that wasn't the only thing that caught everyone's attention. The second thing was the pain filled yell as the ceiling cracked from the impact of the water. A very familiar yell to a select few people.

Naruto coughed after being slammed into the ceiling, blood escaping from his mouth do to the force of blow being more then enough to cause bleeding, internally and externally. The water continued to erupt, keeping him pinned to the ceiling. But Naruto wasn't going to simply roll over and let a liquid get the best of him as he slowly managed to move his hands out in front of him and push against the water.

WATERY didn't seem to appreciate the attempt however as the water suddenly stopped gushing and wrapped around his wrists. The people watching went from fear into shock as they suddenly saw a blonde haired boy be flung around room before crashing through the large tank, making a second hole. WATERY wasn't done yet, seeing as it still had a hold of Naruto as he hung halfway into the tank. The water sprang to life again as it tore through the glass of the tank, taking Naruto with it.

Most of the people started to look away from the horror, but one person stared in absolute despair, _"This… this is my fault! If I had already captured the card then this wouldn't… This wouldn't be happening to Naruto-kun! I… I have to help him!" _Sakura thought to herself before digging into her shirt for her key.

That is until a certain plush toy appeared from under Tomoyo's hat and yelled in a hushed tone, "No Sakura! If you use your magic everyone will see it and it will only make WATERY more angry! It will go from only attacking Naruto to attacking everyone!"

Sakura turned to Kero with a glare that managed to terrify him, something he didn't know Sakura could muster. She leaned over to him to make sure no one heard as she said, "What do you expect me to do? If I don't do something Naruto-kun will die at this rate!"

"Remember that scar he has?" Kero countered, reminding both girls of the large scar on chest and back, "A wound that big and that went through a person would surely kill them! But Naruto is still alive! He won't go down that easy!"

Sakura opened her mouth to argue, but slowly went to biting her lip as she couldn't think of a response to counter Kero's words. Her words were not needed as out of no where the building shook. Everyone turned back to the water to see it draining down a large hole in the middle of the floor, leaving many to wonder what happened to Naruto. Sakura, Tomoyo, and Kero weren't concerned about the water at the moment. It was the small red streaks in the water they saw that made them worry.

Naruto bit his tongue to stop the yells of pain as he was torn out of the glass and back into the water. Though that gave him the opportunity he needed, seeing as no one could see into the water. He managed to form his signature hand sign _"Kage Bunshin no jutsu!"_ With that two more clones appeared in the water just before the original was pulled around in the water, being hit with tables, chairs, and other floating objects.

While this was happening, the clones made a Rasengan while WATERY was distracted and slammed it into the ground. The Rasengan tore through the ground with ease before exploding, forming a large hole to the basement. The water started to rapidly drain away as the clones dispelled themselves, seeing as their work was done.

WATERY lost the strength to continue to pull Naruto as the water drained away. Naruto mentally gave a sigh of relief before seeing he had, luckily, stopped near an entry way. Seeing as the water would soon drain away, Naruto swam into the entry before he could no longer swim, and had to painfully walk out with large pieces of glass sticking out of his back, _"I need to get away from here… before anyone finds me."_

The second they were allowed to, Sakura, Tomoyo, and Kero all started to search for Naruto. Having known he wouldn't stick around in the aquarium after the incident, they stared their search outside. They didn't have to search for long before finding a trail of blood leading from an emergency exit at the side of the building to the nearby trees.

The three easily followed the trail into a concealed part of the forest where they started to hear painful grunts. Within seconds they came up to a small clearing with Naruto sitting in the middle with his hand holding a piece of glass that came from his back according to the only empty holes in his shirt. The second he reached for the last one however, all three made themselves known by shouting, "Stop that!"

Naruto jumped at the sudden voices before yelling in pain at the movement in his back, "Don't startle me! These already hurt!"

"Why are you trying to pull them out yourself? Are you crazy?" Kero shouted as he flew over and smacked Naruto on the head.

Naruto winced at the hit before growling at Kero, "Well I won't heal if I don't take them out!" He shouted before yanking out the last piece out, causing a small amount of blood to fall to the ground.

Sakura and Tomoyo looked away when Naruto pulled the last piece of glass out before rushing over to him with Sakura yelling, "Naruto-kun you need to go see… a…" She said, slowing down at the end as she suddenly stopped in place and stared at his back, "Doctor…" With that last word she stopped and only stared in what seemed to me amazement and confusion.

"Sakura-chan?" Tomoyo asked before looking over to Naruto's back, then mimicked Sakura's look.

Kero only tilted his head at the two before flying over, "What's so interesting?" He asked before seeing the show the two were seeing.

Naruto already knew what they were looking at. They were watching the last cut on his back heal. He only closed his eyes and awaited the questions that would eventually come. Only that isn't what happened. Instead, Naruto suddenly felt his shirt be lifted over his head then a hand running up and down his back, "They're gone… It's like they never existed."

"It's always been that way with me." Naruto responded as he moved the shirt of the way of his eyes, "Even some of the most lethal wounds would heal in a matter of seconds at times. Although there are times when my body decides to take its time to heal…"

"I see…" Sakura stated as she continued to feel Naruto's back. Her gaze saddened as her hand moved to the scar, _"But then… why did the hole caused by Naruto's friend scar?"_

As if sensing Sakura's question, Naruto suddenly said, "Injuries caused by chakra are much harder for the body to heal since chakra can completely disrupt the body's systems. I don't quiet understand it all myself, but that's what the book from my class said."

"You had school in Konoha?" Sakura asked before realizing how absurd her question sounded.

"Of course. We were trained to be ninjas at the academy." Naruto answered as he put his shirt back down after Sakura pulled her hand away.

Tomoyo found the subject of the conversation rather interesting as she asked, "When did you start going to this academy?"

"Let's see… I was six if I remember right, possibly seven." Naruto said as he pulled his shirt off and started to ring out the water.

This made both girls gasp and have the same train of thought, _"They taught kids… to fight?"_

Again sensing the question as well as surprising the three behind him, Naruto simply said, "It's the way my world works. I'm not proud of it, but if there weren't shinobi around, no doubt someone would try to take it all over." Naruto told them as he flapped his shirt into the air in an attempt to dry it out, _"Actually… someone already is… But they don't need to know about that snake."_

Sakura, Tomoyo, and Kero couldn't help but give Naruto a sad gaze after learning of the condition of his world.

"_A world of constant battles where kids are trained to fight… This kid has an even harder life then I thought."_

"_Naruto-san's world seems rather unsafe. I can't help but wonder… why would he need the respect of his entire village if that's the state of things?"_

Sakura's thoughts however were more directed to what she had learned in the aquarium, _"Naruto-kun… He had to grow up in such a place… and with no family to be there for him!"_

This time, Naruto wasn't able to tell what the three were thinking, although he could feel the uneasiness in the air. This lead to a quick change of subject, "Anyway, we need to figure out what we're going to do about that card. We can't just leave it alone after today."

The three snapped out of their depressing thoughts and started to think on the matter as Kero said, "But we still need to figure out how to hold it. After what happened, I don't want to risk someone getting hurt."

"And if we don't do something then someone will get hurt. Like it or not we have to come back tonight." Naruto responded as he looked over his shirt, "Go figure WATERY would act up the day I get to try a snow cone."

"_Snow-cones…" _Sakura thought before a light-bulb went off in her head, _"Ice!" _"That's it!" Sakura screamed out of the blue, causing Naruto and Kero to fall over from the sudden noise as Sakura excitedly said, "We can freeze WATERY!"

Tomoyo put a finger to her chin in her usual manner as she pondered on the idea, "That may work, but how would we freeze WATERY if it's moving?"

"That's easy!" Sakura answered as she held up her index finger, "We use one of Naruto's summons to trap it in the freezer! If they have food for penguins, then they have to have a place to keep it!"

"Yeah… A freezer would have to be air tight to keep the cold in. But there is how long it would take to freeze and the vents. Moving water takes a long time to just ice over plus if WATERY finds a vent to escape out of, our plan will be a bust because I doubt it will work twice." Naruto pointed out before sneezing.

The sneeze stopped Sakura's thoughts of the plan to catch WATERY as she quickly appeared beside Naruto. She looked over Naruto, then his wet clothes, "We should get you changed before you catch a cold! We can discuss the plan at my house!" Sakura said, not leaving room for argument as she pulled Naruto to his feet, then proceeded to drag him to their home.

_Sakura's room: An hour later_

Naruto stretched as he sat down in Sakura's desk chair in another pair of Toya's old clothing. Sakura was resting on her bed humming to herself as with Kero floating over her head as Tomoyo sat on Sakura's window seat, patching the holes in Naruto's shirt, having had the clothes dried. After more minutes of silence, Naruto finally said, "So no idea on how to freeze WATERY?"

"Not yet…" Sakura muttered before she pulled out her three cards, "WINDY, FLY, and SHADOW… None of these can freeze WATERY…"

"Wait a second!" Kero shouted as he saw the cards, "WINDY! That's it! We can use WINDY to make a blizzard in the freezer!"

Tomoyo looked up from Naruto's shirt with a small smile, "The wind does lower the temperature greatly. A large gust could make a room built to freeze items much colder."

Naruto tilted back in Sakura's chair, showing surprisingly could balance considering he was sitting in a chair with wheels, "Turn water into ice then catch it! So then we're hitting the aquarium tonight?"

"Tonight?" Sakura asked as she sat up and tilted her head, "Wouldn't it be better to wait until things settle down a bit?"

"Normally yes, but after everything that happened and all the damage caused by me and WATERY, the building will be practically empty until tomorrow since they have to survey everything that happened. At the most there will be patrol guards outside." Naruto answered just before he lost his balance, causing the chair to fall out from under him.

This made the other three laugh as Naruto only grinned and scratched the back of his head sheepishly. Tomoyo then stood up after folding Naruto's shirt in her lap, "If this is the case, then I should head home and prepare everyone's costumes! See you tonight!" Tomoyo said before quickly leaving the room.

"Geez she doesn't even leave us time to argue…" Naruto muttered before he picked up chair, putting it back to its proper place.

Kero only shrugged before floating over to the door, "No point in getting worked up over it. I'm going to go get some snacks before Sakura's family gets home. Lucky for me that her brother decided to go visit that friend of his." Kero said before flying out the door.

Sakura watched as Kero left the room, leaving only her and Naruto left. The two being alone allowed Sakura the perfect opportunity to ask a question that had been silently nagging at her mind, "Naruto-kun?" Naruto turned to her with curious gaze as Sakura looked away. Sakura was extremely nervous as she wondered on how to ask the question on her mind, _"How do you ask someone you care about if he has family? Will he be mad? Upset? I just don't know how to say it!" _Sakura thought as she grabbed her hair in frustration.

"Sakura-chan, if you have something to say, you can say it." Naruto suddenly told her as he saw her actions.

Sakura looked up to Naruto rather surprised before smiling, "Thank you. Naruto-kun… Big brother over heard you today… when you said that… you didn't have a family." She said while watching Naruto carefully, pausing between each sentence.

"He did?" Naruto responded surprisingly calm, even though the pain in his voice was clear as he turned away from her.

Sakura felt a nervous pull in her gut as her heart started to beat harder from the increasing tension, "Is it true?"

Naruto didn't answer, choosing to remain silent. The ticking of Sakura's alarm clock was the only noise to be heard for seconds before Naruto's voice gave a cracked, "Yeah."

Naruto's answer made Sakura shoot to her feet, "Then why didn't you tell us! If you had, we wouldn't have made so many cover stories that involved your parent and caused you pain!"

Another uneasy silence filled the air before Naruto spoke, "Because… I'm use to it. I know I don't have any living family members and that no one wanted me growing up." Sakura slowly covered her mouth as she heard Naruto tell his story, tears slowly starting to form, "I grew up alone. It's how it's always been for me… Nothing can or will change that. No one cared then; I thought why anyone would care now."

Naruto was then surprised as he felt Sakura's arms wrap around him softly, "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry you had to go through that…" Sakura said between sniffles while she rested her on his back.

Sakura smiled softly as she felt Naruto gently give her arm a small squeeze with his hand "Thank you." Was all he said, although he was thinking another topic entirely, _"Sakura-chan has no idea what they did to me, and I plan to keep it that way. I guess I actually owe that damn fur ball one for being able to make almost all my wounds not scar."_ Naruto thought as he turned and stared at the orange tinted sky. **(This plays a role in a later chapter.)**

_One hour later: Outside the Aquarium__ (Costume links are posted on profile)_

Sakura pulled at her white and blue jester outfit as she exited the van, which was parked a good bit away from the aquarium, making sure everything was in place, "Are these bells?" She asked while pulling at one of the yellow balls on the outfit.

Tomoyo shook her head as she continued to film Sakura, "No. Since we're sneaking in, I thought small yellow balls would be better for the situation."

"So then why does mine have chain and straps?" Naruto asked as he hopped out of the tree he was waiting in. He had a similar outfit to that of Sakura, only with the Konoha symbol on it and a black undershirt and blue overcoat, a gold color collar and odd bracelets on his wrist. The hat and shoes on the two were nearly identical.

Tomoyo only smiled as she said, "I needed something to add some weight to the outfit incase you are attacked by the card again."

Naruto thought about it for a second before nodding, "Alright then. We need to get going." He said as he lead everyone to the aquarium building

True to Naruto's words, the entire aquarium nearly deserted, the only people being their being security personal patrolling the outside. Seeing as Naruto was with them, a simple henged clone made a very good distraction, allowing the four to make their way into the building without a problem.

As the four made their way through the hallways of the aquarium, going over the plan one last time. "Okay, Kero-chan and I will lead WATERY over to Naruto-kun!" Sakura started as they approached a split in the hallway.

"I'll trap WATERY with a toad by surprise." Naruto added as they slowed to a stop.

Tomoyo lowered her camera from her eye with a smile, "And I'll locate the freezer!"

The group nodded before splitting off into different directs, Tomoyo heading off alone. As Sakura, Kero and Naruto made their way to the stairs they all slowed to a stop. Sakura and Kero turned to Naruto who nodded, "This is my stop. Here goes everything." Naruto said before biting his thumb hard enough to draw blood, then ran thought the hand signs, _"Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, Ram!"_ "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" Naruto shouted as he channeled more chakra then usual, hoping for the best.

A large plume of smoke appeared out of nowhere, even larger then normal as it engulfed Naruto as well. Sakura and Kero both waited the smoke to clear to see the result of Naruto's attempt, only to be met by a giant toad staring at them when the smoke cleared. The toad only blinked before croaking loudly at the two, leaving Sakura to ask, "Naruto…kun?"

"Up here." Naruto called from on top of the toads back before hopping off to see the toad, "I can't believe I did it on my first try! I guess Gamakichi was right about this world. So who are…?" Naruto started to ask as he turned to the toad, recognizing him instantly, "I remember you! You're that told that knocked out the closet-pervert!" The toad croaked again, as if agreeing with Naruto. This made Naruto sweat drop as he said, "You don't speak Japanese do you?" The toad shook its head before tilting its head. This made everyone remember why they were there, "Oh right! Sakura-chan, go on ahead! I'll explain everything to him."

Sakura blinked for a second before nodding, her and Kero taking off up the stairs. As they ran to the back room, Kero couldn't help but say, "You know I doubted that he could actually summon a toad the size of a mountain but after seeing that one… I'm not so sure anymore."

"I'm just surprised it didn't talk." Sakura said as the two made their way into the tank control room rooms.

Kero shrugged at this before flying over to a specific tank, "Sakura over here! This is where the magic is the strongest."

Sakura nodded as she tucked her staff between her arm and side while using her other hand to pull out her cell phone. She punched in the numbers to call Naruto and Tomoyo. The phone rang only twice before two answers were heard.

"_Naruto here."_

"_Yes, Daidouji here."_

"Tomoyo-chan, did you find the freezer?" Sakura asked while watching the tank of water for any unusual movement.

"_Bingo, first floor basement."_

"All right! Then hide somewhere!" Sakura said while giving Kero the okay signal for Tomoyo before looking back to the phone, "Naruto-kun, are you two ready?"

"_All set here Sakura-chan! Gama agreed to the plan and we're out of sight!"_

Sakura smiled and gave the second okay signal to Kero as she said, "Okay, stay ready! We're about to start!"

"_Will do! Good luck!" _Naruto said to her before the line went dead, showing he had hung up the phone.

Sakura put the phone away before hopping onto the walkway of the container, twirling her staff, "WATERY!" She shouted before holding her staff battle ready, "Come get me if you can!"

WATERY took the bait as it came out of the water, taking a partial shape. Sakura smiled as she took out the FLY card, "Kero-chan stand back!" Sakura said before throwing down the card, "FLY!" The second the wings appeared on the staff, Sakura took off on the staff. WATERY quickly pursued, following Sakura's every movement as she lead the card out of the room.

Sakura looked over her shoulder to make sure the card was following, only to see it right behind her. She yelled in surprise before speeding up to keep out of the cards reach. She turned when she saw the door leading down the main lobby where Naruto was waiting.

Naruto and Gama were staying hidden on the second floor next to the escalator, waiting for Sakura to go by. The sound of rushing water caught Naruto's ears, causing him to stand up, "Here they come Gama! You ready?" The large toad stood up and croaked loudly, showing he was ready.

Naruto hopped onto the railing and watched as Sakura flew by. Sakura gave a wink and thumbs up as she flew down the escalator. Naruto nodded and waved to Gama, "Let's go!" He and Gama leaped from the second floor right into the path of WATERY. Gama opened his mouth wide for the water, letting it fly right in. His cheeks swelled at the amount of water before it finished pouring, allowing Gama to snap its mouth shut, effectively trapping WATERY inside. His cheeks would occasionally seem to bubble as WATERY tried to escape, only to fail. Naruto cheered with a pump of his fist, "Alright! We caught it!"

"Way to go Naruto-kun! Gama-san!" Sakura cheered as well as she landed near the two, "Now we just need to get to the freezer!"

Gama only picked the two up, placed them on his back, then proceeded to hop in the same direction Sakura was heading without any warning. Naruto was barely able to put his arm around Sakura's waist to stop her from falling as Gama hopped.

"This is nauseating!" Sakura yelled as she got dizzy from all the hops.

This simply made Naruto laugh, "If you think this is bad then you should ride big boss Bunta! He'll take you for a real ride!"

Sakura only paled at the thought at Naruto's idea of a real ride as she looked up over Gama's head along with Naruto. There they saw Tomoyo point to a doorway before heading down the opposite hall, filming the entire time. As Gama turned down the stair case, Naruto looked over his shoulder at Tomoyo, "I know it's her hobby but… does she ever stop filming?"

Sakura sweat dropped while she gave an embarrassed giggle at her friend's behavior as Gama made hopped down the last stair case and headed towards the freezer. At the door he stopped, seeing as it was the only exit there. Sakura and Naruto hopped off of Gama when he stopped. Naruto ran over to freezer door and started to pull the heavy door open where as Sakura stopped for a minute to stroke Gama's head, "Thank you for the ride Gama-san."

Gama only croaked as Naruto grunted, the door slowly being pulled open by him, "This door is heavy!" He shouted as the door hinges creaked. When the door was open enough, Naruto let go of the handle, "Alright Gama! Spite it right in here!"

Gama nodded as Sakura moved out of the way, reeling his head back then spitting WATERY into the freezer with amazing force. As WATERY recovered from being a large spite wad, Sakura ran in front of the doorway with WINDY in hand. She throw the card out in front of her, no spell or chant as she raised her staff above her head, then brought it back down, "WINDY!"

WINDY came to life and quickly flew into the freezer as WATERY was reforming. WATERY had reformed just enough to snarl at Sakura before the door was slammed shut by Naruto, who simply opted for body slamming the door instead of pushing it shut.

Gama croaked at the success before simply dispelling himself, seeing he was no longer needed. Sakura and Naruto simply sighed before sitting down against the door to rest. Naruto was clearly a more exhausted then Sakura as he panted heavily, "Too… much… jutsu in… one day!" Naruto wheezed out between breaths as he rested.

"I'm sorry Naruto-kun. If we had another idea…" Sakura said calmly even though she sweat dropped slightly.

Naruto shrugged as he pulled off his hat, "I'm not complaining about the plan. I just need to step up my training!"

"A truly marvelous performance." Tomoyo's voice was heard saying as she approached, camera still in hand, "A perfect plan that came together flawlessly." She added before looking down at her wrist watch, "It should be done about now."

"Time to pull the door open again…" Naruto groaned as he put the hat back on while standing up. Everyone moved away from the door as Naruto pulled it back open. After the door was opened, the three peered inside to see a completely frozen WATERY, or as Naruto put it, "A Clow card ice sculpture."

While Kero and Tomoyo giggled, Sakura only sighed before backing away from the door while channeling her magic, causing the Clow Reed circle to appear. The magic circle appearing clued everyone in on what was going on as they all cleared the way for Sakura as she raised her staff, "Return to the guise you were meant to be in!" She chanted before jumping into the air while swinging her staff, "Clow card!"

Everyone watched as all the ice was shattered into pieces by a vacuum whirlwind, drawing all the pieces into the card before returning to normal. Kero decided to ask the question on his mind, "But how did you ever come up it?"

"I thought of when Naruto-kun reminded me of the snow-cones we were going to get!" Sakura said happily before turning to Naruto, "It's all thanks to you we captured WATERY, Naruto-kun!"

Naruto only waved his hand in front of his face before saying, "It was a team effort. It's just as much thanks to you and Tomoyo-chan!" He said before rubbing his shoulder, "Let's get out of here and get some sleep. I'm dog tired." Seeing no reason to disagree, everyone nodded, leaving the aquarium along with all its damages behind.

**Links to pics for Gama and clothes are on profile.**

**Alright, last chapter for experiment. You're word becomes law. Answer honestly.**

**Also, I feel the need to say that I will NOT be doing every episode in a chapter. It's too much to do and a lot of it isn't needed. I'm going over the list of which ones to not do as you read.**

**Also, Naruto will be getting his message from Ero-sennin soon ^^**

_**Reviewer's response:**_

**Neguam-tenshi:**** Of course on the first one. However the other two may change if my ideas go over well.**

**Vandenbz:**** Thank you. I do have a lot of twists for everyone further down the road XD**

**DarkSyde24:**** One, dense, and two, Its not so much limited as a lot more tiring.**

**That about does it. I don't see any others that need addressing and won't spoil XD**

_**PLEASE READ, ENJOY, AND REVIEW**_


	4. RAINing emotions under a WOODen surface

**Alright. You all have spoken. The experiment has won by a land slide! The original had a good number, but experiment was easily double of that number. One thing though… For some reason a few people didn't notice me telling about the fact that Naruto will gain his hanyou status later on in the story and actually have a reason for it! Kinda bugs me that some people don't pay attention to this…**

**Also, I do have one other thing to add. When I ask which you like better, I do kinda look for insight on to why you like it. Jokes, romance, etc. Anything besides the fox bits because it I already said they are coming in the late future.**

**Anyway, onto the main event! **

**I am now a working person! Which means less time to write ;-; Sorry everyone, but I am still writing!**

Regular talk

_Thought and thought talk_

**Demon talk**

_**Demon thought**_

(Author note)

I don't own Naruto or Cardcaptor

The sun was shining brightly after a night of rain as the birds started to sing. A happy Sakura opened the curtains to her window before sliding her window open to enjoy the fresh air, "Yes! It's sunny!"

"You're right." Kero said from his perch on Sakura's shoulder, "It's like the rain last night never fell!" Kero added before pushing off of Sakura, floating over to the middle of the room, "But Sakura, you're sure up early for a Sunday."

Sakura only giggled as she held her arms to her chest, confusing Kero. She then added to the confusion a bit as she took Kero's paws in her hands, "I'm going on a picnic to the forest park with Tomoyo-chan and Naruto-kun today!" Sakura started to spin Kero around as she continued to say, "Hey, you should come with us, Kero-chan! If you stay inside the backpack nobody will notice you! Come on!" She said cheerfully to Kero before letting him go, sending him flying through the air as Sakura looked back out the window, "I'm so glad it's such good weather today!"

Unfortunate for Kero, the spin had made him rather dizzy as he floated around uncontrollably.

While Kero was trying to make the world stop spinning, Sakura walked over to the closet to wake Naruto, "Naruto-kun!" She called out as she slid the door open, only to see it empty. This puzzled Sakura for a moment before she remembered why Naruto wasn't there, "Oh yeah… He has that part time job now. Well I'll just stop by on the way and tell him where to meet us!" She said mostly to herself before she started to change.

_Meanwhile with Naruto:_

Naruto sighed as he wiped the sweat from his brow, mainly due to the heat of the room, before resuming his work of helping his senior melt the metal that came in that day. "Keep that fire going!" The senior employee shouted as he used a heat resistant rod to make sure the metal was completely liquidated.

"No worries!" Naruto shouted back over the sound of welding machines, hammers pounding metal, and fires roaring in the building.

The senior nodded as he pulled the rod out of the molten metal, "Alright its ready! Get your gloves and help me pour this into the mold!"

Naruto did as he was told, putting on the extremely thick gloves before helping his senior tilt the caldron shaped bowl, pouring the molten metal into the mold. As he did he couldn't but chuckle quietly, _"Sakura-chan would never let me keep working here if she knew just how dangerous this job was."_

_Back with Sakura:_

Sakura slowed to a stop after running to the dinning room to great her family, "Good morning!" She greeted to Toya and Fujitaka as she walked over to her seat at the table.

Fujitaka was the first one to respond as he looked up from his newspaper, "Good morning Sakura-san." This was met with Sakura giving a cheerful hum as she walked by him.

Toya, being the big brother that he is, saw yet another opportunity to tease his sister, "The kaiju is on cloud nine…"

This instantly killed Sakura's mood as she sweat dropped while clenching her fist. However it only lasted for a moment as her smile returned as she turned to face her sibling, "I'll forgive you today."

It seemed to be Toya's turn to be confused for the day as he stared at Sakura with a puzzled look at the lack of reaction from her. Fujitaka didn't seemed phased by the two's interaction, turning to Sakura as she took a seat next to him, "You're really in a good mood today, Sakura-san."

Sakura's smile didn't waver as she answered her Otou, "I'm going out with Tomoyo-chan and Naruto-kun today!"

This caused her father to go from smiling to a little concerned as Toya stood up and fetched the chore board, which he placed on the table. The sound of the board being placed on the table grabbed Sakura's attention as Toya said, "You're doing all the chores today, right?" Sakura's smile disappeared as she scanned the marker board in front of her while Toya continued, "Did you forget that you wrote it down yourself last week?"

Sakura stared at the board before remembering why she had to do all the chores, "That's right… Rika-chan had a piano recital and I switched with Big brother to go…" She said before sighing as a sweat drop rolled down her brow.

Meanwhile Toya showed no concern for Sakura as he walked by her, "Well I got work today."

Sakura only turned to him and her father as they both walked by, giving a slight bow as her hands were folded, "Yeah… I'll do them…"

Fujitaka walked back down the hallway carrying a basket of laundry, "It's been raining a lot lately so we have a lot of laundry." He said before kneeling down a little with a gentle smile, "Do you want me to help out a bit?"

"You have your presentation today." Sakura replied before patting her chest confidently, "It's all right, I'll do it!"

"Then I'll put this near the washing machine." Fujitaka said, gesturing to basket of the laundry before walking into the laundry room.

"I'm going now." Toya called as he walked out the door of the house.

Sakura only sighed as Toya left before having a thought dawn on her, "Oh yeah! Father, Naruto-kun was planning to stop by after work to celebrate his first day of work. So… if it's alright, can he still celebrate here?" Sakura asked, sounding a little reluctant at the end.

Fujitaka noticed Sakura's pause with her words before remembering what Toya had told him during one of his private moments with Toya.

_Flashback:_

"_Naruto… doesn't have any family?" Fujitaka asked mostly shocked by what he heard._

_Toya nodded as before taking a sip of his tea, "That's what I over heard him say anyway. Sakura hasn't said anything about it after I mentioned it to her so she's either in on it or doesn't believe it." Toya said as he set his cup down, "At thirteen a person can move out the orphanage and be on there own. But from what I've seen he doesn't go to school…"_

_Fujitaka hummed a bit as he quietly as he thought before saying, "He could be homeless. Without documentation you can't enter school and even the government can't keep track of every child born…"_

_Toya nodded as he stared at his father, "Well I may not like the brat to much, but I can tell he's a good kid. Sakura is a decent judge of character."_

"_You just don't like any boy that comes close to Sakura-san." Fujitaka said with a playful smile much like Yukito would before returning to the task at hand as Toya turned away with a huff, "But this does raise my concern for Naruto… He seems like such a nice kid."_

_Toya sighed at this before saying, "I'll keep an ear out and an eye on him to see if I can't confirm what I heard. Until I do, we'd better not mention this. We don't know what he'll do then." Toya said, getting a reluctant nod from Fujitaka._

_Fujitaka accepted the fact that they needed more information on Naruto before they could act, for jumping the gun would only make things worse._

_End of flashback:_

Fujitaka stared off for only a moment to Sakura as the memory played in his mind before he smiled, "I don't see any problem with it. Maybe you can get him to help with some of the cleaning."

Sakura giggled playfully at her father's suggestion, "Yeah! Then I would only have to do half the chores today!"

"Well then, I'll head out as well." Fujitaka said as he fixed his tie while walking to the door.

Sakura nodded, giving her father a bright smile as he walked by, "Yeah. See you later!" However the second he walked out the door, Sakura leaned on the wall and hung her head with a sigh.

_Meanwhile: Minutes later __**(I'll go more into Naruto's job next chapter since the Clow cards revolve around the house this chapter.)**_

Naruto yawned as he walked down the street back to Sakura's house, "Why did that crazy old man decide to make me come in at three in the morning." He said to himself while nursing his burnt arm, "And starts chasing everyone out with a red hot metal plate… Psycho…"

He winces as he lifted his arm to open the door to Sakura's house, knowing her family had already left for the day, "Sakura-chan, I'm back!" He called out as he took off his sandals then started walking down the hallway.

Naruto was answered by the sound of the phone hanging up as he walked and Sakura saying, "I'll bring a letter of apology with me on Monday."

"For what?" Naruto asked as he rounded the corner to the room.

The sudden question made Sakura jump in surprise with a scream, which led Naruto to laugh while Sakura fumed, "Naruto-kun! Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"I didn't." Naruto wheezed out between laughs as he calmed down, "I told you I was here at the door, you just didn't hear me." He said, making Sakura sigh in embarrassment, "So why are you bring a letter of apology?"

Sakura only sighed again at hearing this, "I had to cancel our plans with Tomoyo-chan because I forgot I switched days with Big brother… So I have to do all the chores today."

"Oh… Well I'll help however I can." Naruto said before giving a playful salute, "Just give me orders captain!"

Sakura's embarrassment and sadness vanished at Naruto's antics before she stood up straight with her arms behind her back, "Well then private, I'll set up command in the kitchen while you scout the hallways with the mop!

This only made Naruto tilt his head in confusion, "What's a private…?"

Sakura face vaulted as the mood was ruined before changing her words around, "Genin Naruto-kun! Scout the hallway with the mop while I set command up in the kitchen!"

"Ok!" Naruto said before he went to the closet, getting the bucket, mop, and floor cleaner while Sakura ran upstairs to get Kero. Naruto finished mixing the cleaners to look up at Sakura tossing Kero into the laundry room as she went into the living room.

Naruto chuckled before starting to run up and down the hallway, hearing Kero complain about having to work. "Just because there's nobody at home right now, why do I have to do something like this?" He said slamming the start button after loading the machine.

Naruto stopped for a minute, leaning into the laundry room, "Because you live here too, now stop complaining." This left Kero grumbling to himself as Naruto put the mop in the bucket, "Now to dry the floor…" He said to himself as he took out two drying clothes, "Hmmm…" He then hatched an idea. He put the two clothes down on the floor and took a few steps back before running onto the clothes, "YEAH!" He yelled as he slid across the floor, until he crashed into the basement door, forcing it open and causing Naruto to fall down the stairs. The crash made Sakura nearly drop the bowl she was washing. She set down said bowl and the sponge she was using before she ran out into the hallway to determine what caused the noise, only to see Naruto walked up the basement stairs rubbing his head, "Note to self… sliding on drying clothes doesn't mean you have brakes…"

Sakura could only sigh at Naruto's behavior as she walked up to the door, "Naruto-kun, please tell me you didn't break anything down there."

"Besides me head? No." Naruto replied with a wince as he ran his hand the now forming lump only to suddenly have the vacuum cleaner stuck in his arms. He only raised an eyebrow at the device, "The weird noise thing? What am I suppose to do with it?" Naruto asked, looking back up at Sakura only to jump when he saw she was annoyed.

Sakura continued to glare at Naruto as she pointed to the vacuum, "Plug it into the wall and flip the switch to turn it on. Since you like the basement so much, you get to clean it." Sakura said in a stern tone as she took the hose of the vacuum, "Run the nozzle over the ground to clean the floor."

Naruto was about to argue, but the glare he was getting from Sakura quickly made him swallow it and instead give a small, "Okay..." He then headed back down into the basement as Sakura resumed cleaning upstairs. He plugged in the vacuum into a nearby socket and started to vacuum the basement floor. As he did, he bumped one of the book shelves by accident, causing a few loose books to fall to the floor. Naruto turned to the books when he heard then hit the floor and swore to himself, "Damn it… I have to be more careful or I'll just make Sakura-chan angrier…" He said to himself as he cut off the vacuum.

Naruto kneeled down to pick up the books when he noticed the words embroidered into the cover, "Family photo album…" He muttered as he picked it up, forgetting about the other books as his curiosity took over. He carried the book over to desk as he started to flip through the book of pictures. As he did, his mind wondered, _"If I had a family… would I have been able to act like this?"_ He thought as he came to a picture of a young Toya grinning with his mother and father. Naruto continued to flip through the book as he continued to ask the many questions he hadn't thought of for years, _"Could I have been able to smile without a care in the world? Would I have been treated any different…?"_ He asked himself as he came to the picture of a cheerfully smiling Sakura being held by both her mother and father with everyone being covered in some kind of food, _"It must be nice to have memories to look at… I wonder who my parents are…" _He started to ask him, not noticing the presence approaching him quietly.

_A minute back:_

While Naruto was off in his thoughts, Sakura was finishing up by rolling out the rug, seeing as she had already cleared out the cob webs and the table. Just as she was about to be done with her chore, she noticed a small triangle sticking out of the edge of the rug. "Hoe?" She said to herself as she reached for the triangle, pulling it out from under the carpet only to gasp in surprise, "Is that…?" She asked when she saw the pattern on the back of the before flipping the card over, "WOOD…? It is a Clow card!" Sakura said happily as she stood up to go and tell the others.

Kero, while everything else was going on, had leaned over the opening to the washing machine to see why it had stopped when he heard Sakura calling. "Kero-chan! Kero-chan!"

Kero looked over his shoulder to answer the call, "What?" Unfortunately for Kero, this made him lose his balance. He tried to regain his balance, only to hit the washing machine's lid just before falling in. This made the lid close behind Kero, letting the machine start up again.

"Kero-chan! I found a Clow card!" Sakura said excitedly one last time as she ran into the laundry room. However Sakura only found a running washing machine with no Kero in sight, "He's not here…" She said quietly, a bit disappointed to not being able to show Kero the card. Though her disappointment didn't last long as she looked back at the card with a smile, "Oh well. I'll brag about this later!" She said as she put the card into her pocket, patting it after the card was secured.

However as soon as she did, she realized how quiet it was, _"I guess Naruto-kun is done in the basement. I'll go check on him." _Sakura decided as she headed down to the basement.

Sakura never noticed the machine stop as the lid opened again, allowing an extremely dizzy Kero to escape the machines clutches as he climbed out, "Things sure spin around a lot today…" He muttered before shaking his head in complete frustrated, "That's it! I quit! I QUIT!"

Once Sakura finished walking down the steps, she could tell something was seemed… off. It was quiet, the only sound being heard was the occasional turning of a page. This made Sakura a bit curious as to what Naruto was doing as she walked around the corner of the book shelf. There she froze. She saw Naruto looking through one of her family album. But the album wasn't the reason she had stopped. It was the distant look Naruto's eyes held as he flipped the through the pages. He was focused on the album and the album alone. Nothing in the room seemed to matter to him, not even the mess of books near his feet. A small smile appeared on Sakura's face as she watched Naruto continue to look at the pictures, _"I guess his curiosity got the best of him. It's kinda relieving to see Naruto-kun act a bit like a normal kid."_ Sakura quietly walked over to Naruto, seeing he didn't even notice her. This only made her smile more as she said, "You know, pictures are more fun to look at with someone to explain what they're about."

Naruto jumped when he heard Sakura's voice, knocking the album off the desk in his startle as Sakura giggled. She could tell he was embarrassed at begin caught as he blushed while picking the album up off the ground. It was fun to be on the other end of a startle for a change. Naruto still blushed as he set the album down on the desk, "I'm sorry Sakura-chan. I accidently bumped the shelf and the books fell then…" Naruto tried to explain only to stop when Sakura shook her head at him.

"It's alright Naruto-kun. Although if you want to know what the pictures are about, I'll be happy to tell you." She said as she pulled the chair to the desk out to take a seat. Naruto didn't decline the offer as Sakura opened the album again to the page he had open before he dropped it, "Father told me about these pictures since I was so young. He said this…" She said while pointing to the last picture Naruto had looked at, "Was my second birthday after the cake. After I blew out the candles, Father said I threw some cake at Big brother which led to a food fight with everyone involved. He never said why I threw the cake though." She told him with a soft smile as she stared at her cake covered mother before turning the page.

Naruto listened intently on Sakura's stories with each picture. However when she took a minute to pause, Naruto accidently thought out loud, "It must be nice to have memories of your mother to look at…"

Sakura caught onto what Naruto was saying in a heart beat. She didn't know how she did, but she just knew what he was implying as she asked, "Naruto-kun… You don't know anything about your family do you?"

Naruto sighed as slid down the bookshelf he was leaning on, "No I don't. One of the joys of growing up in an orphanage where everyone avoids you. Either no one knew my parents had me or I was just abandoned for…" Naruto started to say only to catch himself in mid-sentence. He looked away from Sakura biting his lip, _"Damn it, I almost slipped up again!"_

Sakura knew Naruto was about to say what he had yet to tell her about his past, so she dropped the subject right there as she closed the album, "We should get back to work. I already cleaned up in the hallway." She said while opening the cover to the basement windows to allow some more light into the room.

Naruto could tell Sakura was trying to change the subject and went along with it whole-heartedly as he climbed back onto his feet, "Yeah. The only place I didn't vacuum was back here near the desk."

"Well then I'll finish vacuuming. You can clean the dust off of the bookshelves with the dust rag." Sakura said producing said item as she grabbed the vacuum. Naruto simply nodded as he took the rag from Sakura then moved to the other end of the bookshelf. He heard the vacuum turn on as Sakura started to clean only to hear the noise of the vacuum change as it went under the desk.

Naruto turned to Sakura just as she pulled an item that was clogging the vacuum out of its nozzle, "Oh, this is covered in ink…" Sakura said as she held the rectangular item on its only ink free corner.

Naruto lowered his head, about to apologize thinking he caused the spill when he noticed the back of the item, "Sakura-chan… That's a…!"

"Hoe?" Was all Sakura said before turning the card over only to gasp at the item, "Another Clow card?"

"Huh? Another?" Naruto asked as he walked back over to Sakura as she dug into her pocket and pulled out WOOD.

"I'm lucky today! This is the second card I found today that we didn't have to fight!" Sakura replied as she laid the two cards down onto the desk, "WOOD was under the living room carpet."

"You are lucky today." Naruto replied before leaning over the ink covered card, "I can't see the name or picture of t though. So… how do we clean off the ink?"

Sakura smiled before holding her arms to her chest, cheerfully skipping back to the basement staircase, "Towel, towel, a wet towel…!" She sang while skipping, leaving a confused Naruto behind

"All I asked is how to clean the ink…" He muttered, completely baffled by Sakura's response to his question as he followed her. His confusion didn't last long as the phone started to ring, causing Sakura to stop skipping as she ran to the phone with Naruto following right behind her.

Sakura slid to a stop as she grabbed the phone off the receiver as Naruto calmly walked up next to her, "Yes, Kinomo-"

"_Sakura-san?" _The voice of Sakura's father came through the phone, cutting Sakura off rather rudely.

"Y-Yes!" Sakura replied, a bit startled by her fathers sudden outburst, "Father?"

"_Can you see if there's a blue envelope on top of the dining table?"_

Naruto over heard this and was already opening the door to the dining room as Sakura turned around. He disappeared for only a second into the dining room before returning with said blue envelope.

"There's one here." Sakura answered seeing Naruto holding the envelope.

"_Gomen, but can you bring that to the bus stop? Everything that I'm presenting today is inside that envelope!"_

Sakura gasped at that tidbit of information before moving the receiver back up to her mouth, "I'll be right over!" She said into the phone before snatching the envelope from Naruto then running back over to the receiver to hang up the phone. Naruto could only guess they were leaving the house, so he headed towards the door.

Sakura came seconds later and started to put on her skates as Naruto said, "You know I can just run it over for you."

"The last thing we need is my Father wondering how you managed to get from my house to the bus stop in less than ten seconds." Sakura said bluntly as she tightened the straps on her skates. When she finished she turned back to the hallway, "Kero-chan! We have to step out for a bit!" She shouted standing up, "Let's go Naruto-kun!"

Naruto shrugged at the first sentence then nodded at the second as he followed Sakura out the door. Right after the door shut, Kero came out of the laundry room with a rope hanging around his neck which was holding the clothes basket completely lost on what just happened, "Wha?"

No one was aware of the ink covered card that had started to glow when the light from the sun shined onto it.

In only a few minutes the two to get to the bus stop with the envelope in hand. Sakura waved at her father as he rode away on the bus while Naruto sat down on the bench panting lightly. Sakura turned back to Naruto when the bus was out of sight, only to have a puzzled look when she noticed Naruto resting, "You're tired after that short run?"

"No, but I'm just as human as you are Sakura-chan." Naruto said as he stood back up, "Everyone breathes deeply after a sprint as their blood pumps, no matter how long or short it is." Naruto informed Sakura with a slight shrug.

Sakura couldn't tell why, but hearing that from Naruto relived her a bit. Almost as if it reminded her that Naruto was indeed human, despite the feats he could pull. "Ah, Sakura-chan! Naruto-san!" A voice called out from behind the two, causing them both to turn around to see none other then Yukito walking up behind them, "What are you two up too?"

"I'm helping Sakura-chan with some errands." Naruto answered before Sakura could speak, seeing as she was blushing at Yukito's arrival, "We just finished getting her father something he forgot to grab on the way out today." He added before noticing the nearby bus stop clock, "Just in time for lunch too."

"So you two haven't eaten then?" Yukito asked as he smiled, "Well then why not have lunch with me? Over there?" He asked pointing to a nearby café.

Both turned to the café only to raise an eyebrow at the waiter in the window, "Is that…?" Naruto asked, giving a slight glare at the figure.

When said person turned around, Sakura could only mutter, "Big brother…"

A few minutes later, Sakura was watching both Yukito and Naruto in shock as they devoured their own extra-large plate of curry. Her small bowl of ice cream seemed like nothing compared to the two large plates next to and across from her. Toya walked up with two more plates, setting them down before taking the two just finished plates of food. This made a large sweat drop roll down the back of Sakura's head, "Three extra-large plates… for both of them…"

"Yuki eats at least three times as much as I do. I don't know about Naruto." Toya said before walking away. Needless to say, the cooks were staring at Naruto and Yuki with stars in their eyes.

Naruto paused for a moment and smiled, "To be honest, this is small for me. You should see me after a work out!" Naruto said cheerfully before resuming his meal.

Sakura was speechless at what she had heard, _"I… I knew he could eat a lot since he always raided the cafeteria but… just how much can Naruto-kun eat?"_

"That's one heck of an appetite you have." Yukito said with a laugh before adding, "It must be terrible on your allowance."

Sakura instantly tensed upon hearing this, only to sigh in relief quietly when she heard Naruto say, "Eh it's alright. I have a part time job so it helps."

Not wanting to take a chance on the conversation taking a turn for the worse, Sakura quickly blurted out, "It's good to eat a lot! It's very healthy!" Naruto and Yukito both stopped and stared at Sakura for moment, making her a bit nervous before they started laughing.

After lunch the two said their good-byes and headed back for the house. Sakura was clearly happy as she did jumps and spins on her skates as Naruto simply ran a bit behind her. That didn't stop Sakura from talking to herself however, "Thank you Father! I was able to see Yukito-san today!"

"What's so special about seeing someone you see on a daily basis?" Naruto unwisely asked, clearly missing the point of Sakura's happiness.

"Because!" She suddenly shouted with a raise of her fist, "Yukito-san is smart, athletic, and I…" She said before blushing deeply, leaving it at that. Naruto however only tilted his head, completely baffled by Sakura's behavior as they slowed to down in front of Sakura's house. As Sakura put her hand on the gate, both she and Naruto noticed the laundry handing on the balcony.

Naruto couldn't help but look around before asking, "I wonder if anyone noticed a flying plush toy putting up laundry?"

_Across town:_

"But Mama, I did see a toy flying that was hanging clothes outside!" A small boy said while holding onto his mother's hand.

The mother only sighed before lowering her book, "That's enough! If you don't stop fibbing, I'm not going to bake cookies when we get home!"

_Back with Sakura and Naruto:_

Sakura burst into her room with little subtlety, "Kero-chan!" She said loudly while looking around the room for Kero, only to see him napping on her bed, as Naruto followed her inside. Sakura moved to the side of her bed, crouching down to lean on the side of her bed while looking at Kero softly, "Thank you…" Kero only turn his head to Sakura, mumbling in his sleepy state. Sakura only gave a quiet giggle, "I'll get lunch ready for you right away."

"He must have really worn himself out. I guess he does do more then just complain." Naruto said with a bit of humor in his voice. However the rather cheerful moment was killed by a eerie groaning noise that seemed to come from the entire house.

Sakura and Naruto both looked around the room for a second before Sakura put her hand on Kero's back, shaking him awake, "Kero-chan… Kero-chan! Kero-chan, wake up!" She whispered, trying to get him to arise from his slumber

Kero slowly sat up rubbing his eye of sleep, "What, lunch already?"

"No. Listen." Naruto said quietly as the noise started up again. Sakura held her hands to her chin nervously before grabbing onto the nearest object when the entire house shook for only a second. However she didn't notice that object was Naruto, who was blushing like a cherry due to the fact Sakura's cheek was rubbing against his, "Uh… Sakura-chan… We're a bit… close."

Sakura blinked, trying to understand what Naruto meant when she realized who she was holding. She quickly let go why sporting a blush that matched Naruto's completely. Kero only laughed at the two's embarrassment towards each other. That is until they were reminded of the situation at hand as the home started to groan again.

As they left Sakura's room, Kero focused his large ears to the source of the eerie sound, "It's coming from downstairs."

Seeing the condition of the house only becoming worse as the noises slowly increased in length and volume, the three decided to investigate. Naruto pulled a kunai out of his holster and hid it behind his wrist as he led them to the top of the stairs with Sakura and Kero behind him. He held his hand up, signaling them both to stop while carefully looking around the corner. With no motion to be seen, he lowered his hand while continuing his way down, "Doesn't seem like anyone is here."

Sakura seemed even more nervous then she was before when Naruto said this as she started crying anime tears, "C-Could it be… a ghost…?"

"They wouldn't appear in broad daylight." Kero said as he floated behind Sakura.

Naruto looked into the living room only to see nothing again, "Besides, what would a ghost want with a making a house groan?" Naruto asked as he moved over to the dinning room doorway with Sakura right behind him.

However since Kero had sharper hearing over Sakura and Naruto, he was able to pin point the location of the noise sooner. He floated past the two as they checked the dinning room and pointed to the basement door, "Over there!"

Both turned to the door before slowly approaching it. Naruto readied his kunai, flipping it around from behind his wrist to a reverse grip, "So then let's see what idiot we have behind the door shall we?" He asked while reaching for the door knob.

Sakura help a look of both fear and concern as she said, "J-Just don't hurt him more then necessary Naruto-kun…"

Naruto sweat dropped a bit at that, pausing just before he grabbed the doorknob, _"Someone breaks into your house and you're worried about that person…?" _Granted she was also talking to a ninja, a person who could easily take down a group of people without breaking a sweat.

Pushing the thoughts from his mind, he grabbed the doorknob and gave it a slow twist. As he turned the knob, Sakura moved behind him, peeking over his shoulder nervously. When Naruto couldn't turn the knob any further, he tensed up for only a moment before yanking the door open with his kunai ready, "Who's there?"

There was no answer from the basement. Only an eerie silence in the darkness of the basement which caught Sakura's attention. It was too dark in the basement. She leaned over a bit more to get a better view of the basement, only to see nothing, "That's strange…" Naruto looked over his shoulder at Sakura as she stepped out from behind Naruto, "I left the basement window covers open, so there should be some light down there…"

"But then why is the…" Naruto started to say as he looked back to the door. Then something moved in the shadows, catching the three's attention. They all leaned in a bit closer to try and see what moved only to gasp in shock at what moved into the light. The branches of a tree.

"HHHHOOOOEEEE!" Sakura screamed as everyone stared at the large entanglement of branches as they pushed through the doorway. They didn't make it far into the house however as Sakura and Naruto slammed the door onto the bits of branch that had made it through, using their weight to keep it shut. "W-W-What was that?" Sakura asked with a bit of a stutter as she and Naruto struggled to keep the door shut.

Kero picked up the broken bits of the tree that had fallen to the floor as the two held the door shut, "It was the branch of some plant."

"Tell us something we don't know! Like how to stop it!" Naruto yelled at Kero as the door bulged for a moment from the effort of the tree.

"Or why such a thing is sprouting from the basement?" Sakura shouted as she pressed herself against the door, hoping that would help hold the plant back.

Kero only continued to stare at the branches in his paws until they began to glow before dissolving into nothing, "This is the doing of the WOOD!"

"A Clow card… Oh, that's right, today..." Sakura then told the Kero about the two cards she found as the plant in the basement continued to grow against the door.

"Eh?" Kero yelled at the two as he helped push against the door, "You left a Clow card alone without writing your name on it?"

"Because I found it as a card… and I got that phone call…" Sakura tried to explain to Kero.

"That's bad!" Kero interrupted as the door started to bend a bit, "Clow cards start listening to the owner after the owner's name is inscribed onto them!"

"So then why did the card decide to act up now? It's been in the house the whole time and didn't do anything until now!" Naruto said as they continued to hold the door shut

Kero let out a small hum before answering, "It's true that WOOD is a very gentle card. I can't think that it would be up to mischief…"

"Then why?" Sakura asked, which led Kero to take his paws off the door. This made Sakura panic, "Kero-chan, don't let go!" **(Anyone notice Kero is a lot stronger then his size dictates in the manga/anime?)**

"Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" Naruto called out of nowhere. Sakura blinked in surprise as she was suddenly pulled away from the door by Naruto as his clones barricaded the door, "That should hold it a bit longer. But we better figure out what we're going to do before the door gives way."

As if things couldn't get any worse, the doorbell rang. Someone had arrived at the door. Everyone looked down hallway that led to the front door before looking back at each other. However the creaking of the door behind them along with the yells of his clones grabbed Naruto's attention. He looked back to the door to see it bending even with the clones still pushing on it. "Damn it… Sakura-chan, go get rid of who ever is at the door. Make up an excuse or something!" He said quietly before making more clones to reinforce the door, adding himself to the group of twenty some odd clones.

Sakura did what she was told, quickly rushing over to the door to try and get rid of whoever was close to discovering their secret. She opened the door with her eyes closed, not seeing who was standing on the other side of it as she said, "Good afternoon. We're a little bit busy right now…"

"Good afternoon." A familiar soft voice responded, causing Sakura to open her eyes in surprise. There stood Tomoyo, a basket on her arm and backpack straps on her shoulders, looking a tad bit confused, "Did I come at a bad time?"

"Oh no! I just thought that you were…" Sakura started to explain before the sound of wood shattering filled the house along with the screams of Naruto's clones. Sakura turned around just in time to see Naruto and Kero slide into the wall as branches grew out of the hallway, along with a few of his clones just before they dispelled, slightly disoriented from the launch. "Naruto-kun! Kero-chan! Are you two okay?" Sakura asked as she and Tomoyo checked on the two.

Naruto rubbed his head for a second before nodding, "Yeah, but you're going to need a new door…" He said before pointing to the remains of the door that was still attached to the hinges. Then he noticed Tomoyo on his left, holding Kero as he came too, "Tomoyo? What are you doing here?"

As Sakura took a minute to panic about the door, Tomoyo answered Naruto's question, "Well I thought I would help Sakura-chan with her chores. But…" She said before turning to the many branches that filled the hallway, "It seems that you two are preoccupied."

"Yeah. A Clow card decided to run rampant in the basement." He said as he stood back up, "Sakura-chan, seal the card away before it destroys anything else in the house…"

Sakura nodded then pulled her key out from under her shirt to. In a flash of light, the key was replaced by the staff of Clow. With a raise of her staff Sakura recited the spell, "Return to the guise you were meant to be in! Clow card!" She yelled as she swung her staff down. It seems to strike something invisible in the air as it suddenly stopped as the air ripped, yet no card appeared as the branches disappeared back into the basement opening.

"You look lovely, Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo claimed as she filmed with her camera which she seemed to have pulled out of thin air, causing Naruto to face fault at the sight of it. Sakura paid no mind to the camera as she looked around her feet for something. "Is something the matter?" Tomoyo asked while still filming.

"The card is missing." Sakura answered while continuing to look at the floor as Naruto got to his feet.

"That can't be!" Kero said anxiously as he flew down to the ground, "Are you sure it's not around here somewhere?"

"Well it started in the basement…" Naruto said as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Maybe that's where it ended." He quickly made another Kage Bunshin real quick, earning a confused stare from everyone else. Naruto shrugged a bit at their stares, "I'm being a little precautious after what happened today is all."

Naruto's precaution seemed to be right on the money as the entire house started to shake. Everyone looked back to the basement doorway just in time to see all the branches that had been sealed away returning with pure aggression, having rather deadly tips. Naruto and his clone moved in front of the two girls and Kero, the clone forming a Rasengan in Naruto's hand, "Up stairs now! I'll hold it back!"

They obeyed the order, rushing up the stairs as Naruto thrusted the Rasengan forward, "Eat this!" He honestly only expected to hit the branches in the middle, not the outer branches. So when they all converged into the Rasengan, needless to say everyone was surprised. "What's going…" Sakura started to say before a high pitch scream emanated from the branches. Everyone but Naruto covered their ears to the scream, "What's happening?" Sakura barely managed to yell over the scream.

"WOOD is in pain! Naruto's attack it hurting it!" Kero yelled back before looking at Naruto, "Naruto! Stop and run!"

Naruto didn't need to be told twice. Without a second thought he stopped the chakra flow of the Rasengan and bolted for the stairs, "Go!" Everyone quickly climbed the stairs as the card took its time to recover. After the card managed to recover, it sent its branches after the group.

"Sakura-chan don't stop!" Naruto yelled as she reached for the door to her room. She turned to Naruto to see the branches coming up the stairs rather quickly. And so they resumed their run up to the roof balcony where the laundry hung.

The branches filed out of the window, pausing for only a moment before turning to the direction of everyone. Naruto moved in front of the girls again forming his ram sign, "I don't want to do this, but it looks like I don't have a choice! Kage Bu…"

Naruto didn't get to finish as the branches stopped an inch away from his face and suddenly turned away in every possible direction. They twisted around the railing of the balcony as well as the laundry drying rack. After making them tightening around every railing available, the branches spontaneously sprouted leaves on every branch. Seeing the tree was no longer acting hostile everyone relax. "It's calm again." Sakura observed as she stepped out from behind Naruto.

"I guess it just wanted to be outside. Makes me feel back for attacking it earlier…" Naruto said with a slight sigh before remembering what happened in the hallway, "Oh yeah! Kero, why did the card move towards the Rasengan? No cards have ever done that before now."

"Well… You noticed on how this "chakra" you use feels similar to magic right?" Kero asked, earning a nod from Naruto as well as Sakura, who was just as curious on the subject. "Well magic comes in all shapes and forms. The magical signature is never the same as another. My guess is that WOOD thought you were supplying it with magic, which is like food to the cards, and headed right into your attack, not realizing it was made to hurt, not help."

"So I have to be careful with my jutsu's then…" Naruto muttered before looking up at the laundry, "Uh Kero… don't look up."

Kero did just that, looking up to see all his hard work for the day ruined, "The laundry!" Depression set in for Kero as he drooped down to the ground crying a stream of tears, "I have to start all over…"

"Don't feel so down." Tomoyo tried to comfort the magical guardian.

"Naruto-kun and I will help too." Sakura added, giving Naruto a nudge in his side.

Naruto sighed a bit at feeling the nudge, "Yeah I'll help…" Granted laundry wasn't his favorite task in the world, since he did it by hand all his life. Naruto scratched his head a bit before changing the subject, "Anyway, what do we do about this?" He asked pointing up at the branches.

Sakura hummed a bit as her eyes followed the direction Naruto's finger pointed to, "Even if I try to seal it away, it keeps coming back…"

"Then we only have one choice!" An angry Kero yelled as he flew back up, "We go down to the card and completely seal it away!"

"A bit worked up over laundry aren't you?" Naruto asked with a laugh before looking to the glass doorway they had climbed out of, "So we're heading to the basement then." Kero nodded, angrier about the laundry then Naruto's remark.

However before everyone could act, the house started to groan again as it did earlier that day. Tomoyo looked concern at the house, "It's as if an elephant was walking around."

"No!" Kero said as he focused on the noise, "This is the whole house creaking!"

"It's still growing in the house?" Naruto yelled at Kero before growling at the branches, "I thought it stopped when it came outside?"

"That's just it!" Kero replied as he flew over to their way inside, "It's because WOOD found light outside! It's trying to make the entire tree bask in the sun! If we don't hurry and seal it away, then the entire house will be destroyed!"

"Then let's get going!" Naruto said to everyone, running to window, "We don't have time to waste!"

"Um…" Tomoyo interrupted as she pulled off her backpack, "I know we're pressed for time, but I do have costumes for you two today." She said with a cheerful smile, causing Sakura and Naruto to face vault in reaction to her.

Naruto recovered first, sighing as he moved into the room, "Fine… Toss mine here." Tomoyo complied by pulling out Naruto's costume, which was in a bag inside the backpack, and tossing it too him. Naruto caught the bag out of the air and climbed into Sakura's room.

As soon as he was through the window, he heard Tomoyo say, "Now Sakura-chan, lets get you changed!"

"What? Not outside?" Sakura replied as she stood back up.

"Simply stand over here. With the branches, no one will see you here." Tomoyo argued as she pulled Sakura over to the concealed area.

"W-Wait a minute!" Sakura said trying to stop her friend, only to fail as Tomoyo pulled out Sakura's costume. This led Sakura only to sigh before leaning her head over the window, "Naruto-kun, don't come out here."

"I got it." Naruto said with a wave, not even facing the window as he looked into his own bag.

A few minutes later, Naruto was standing in his battle costume. The top part of the white battle kimono with a blazing fire on the bottom. The pants of the kimono were a dark crimson to match the flame design with a gold sash around his waist as well as two more sashes wrapping around his torso, crossing over his chest while holding two imitation katana on his back. He had one more katana being held by the waist sash, although that one seemed to have some weight to it, which made Naruto wonder if it was real or not. He added the last touch, tying thin brown head band around his forehead. He had a light piece of wooden armor under the kimono, but it was clearly for looks judging by the weight and feel of it. He checked his sandals, the only piece of clothing that was still his, before standing up straight.

Naruto pulled at the clothing, making sure it was snug as he waited on Sakura. Tomoyo climbed in a minute later, moving to a good position to film Sakura's entrance. It wasn't a grand entrance as Sakura stepped into the room, rubbing her hands together nervously as they held her staff. Her costume was a light pink color with white rims around the skirt and her shoulders. The skirt was very open, Naruto making a note to not ever stand behind or below her seeing this, and was some how kept in a fixed position. The skirt had a white sort of padding with two rims. The rest of the skirt was all pink and extended all the way to her collar and shoulders. Naruto could see a golden plate that is attached on her torso and to the white parts on Sakura's shoulder. The sleeves are attached to the main dress with three white rims at the top of the sleeve and gold plates in the rims. The whole sleeve was white with matching gloves that go over the white sleeves. The gloves were white as well but had a pink bar going across them with two more golden plates again on either side of the bar. The head dress that she was wearing was a pink hair band with two gold dots but at each end of the hair band, there are large white wings. And lastly the boots. The boots are white but have a pink sole and it also has a pink rim with two dots on either side of it. The boots extend to just past Sakura's ankle.

Sakura fidgeted nervously a bit more as she continued to blush while looking up at Tomoyo, "Hey, why did you have these clothes right now?"

"I was planning to film "Sakura, the girl from the future meets Naruto, Warrior of the past" in the forest park today for my video project." Tomoyo answered as she filmed the two together.

"So that's why you had this lunch ready?" Kero asked as he flew by munching on a sandwich. Sakura and Naruto only sweat dropped before returning to the task at hand.

Naruto took one last look at Sakura before turning to the door, "Alright follow me."

Kero quickly stuffed down the sandwich when he heard this, pounding on his chest to make the food go down. When he managed to swallow it, Kero flew in Naruto's way just as Naruto started to climb over the branches in the door, "Hold on Naruto! Sakura should lead the way. She is the only one that can seal the card away."

Naruto sighed, knowing that Kero hadn't realized the just why he was wanting to lead, "Kero, look at Sakura's skirt. With the way it's kept like that, what do you think we might see when she started climbing over these branches?"

Sakura blushed like a cherry as she caught on to what Naruto was saying while pushing down the skirt. Tomoyo cupped her own cheek, "Oh my… I over looked that while making the costume. A kind observation Naruto-san."

"More like a perverted one." Kero said only to be smacked out of the way by Naruto.

"I'm just keeping an eye out for Sakura-chan." Naruto said with a huff before climbing out of the room. Sakura and Tomoyo followed, both taking a second to stare at Kero with a disappointed look.

After navigating through the hallway and stairwell through a series of climbs, crawls, and sidesteps they arrived at the first floor of the house. Naruto sighed as he stared into the wall of wood blocking the way to the basement, "Looks like we have to make our way around."

"So then we'll go through the living room." Sakura said just as she landed next to Naruto from the stairs.

Naruto nodded as he continued to lead the way through the now green dinning room then back into the hallway behind the wall of branches. Tomoyo, still filming, and Kero, who now had a wicked headache, managed to climb out of the kitchen just as Naruto and Sakura started for the basement. As the two descended the stairs, a strange sound entered their ears. "What's that sound?" Sakura asked.

"Sounds like… rain?" Naruto guessed just as he stepped on the floor, only to feel his foot sink in a few inches of water, "I think I called it." Naruto added as he lifted his now soaked sandal out of the water as everyone stopped behind him.

Kero flew down in front of everyone to exam the situation, "Water doesn't come out of the WOOD card…"

"Then I wonder if it's the other card…" Sakura said to Kero.

Kero jump in surprised at this bit of information, "What? There were two cards?"

Sakura nodded to Kero as Naruto shrugged, "Yeah but it was covered in ink, so we don't have a clue as to what it was."

Kero looked between the two before heading over to the source of the noise with everyone following behind him. They all looked around a book case to see a little cloud floating above the source of WOOD, letting rain fall freely. "RAIN was here with it!" Kero exclaimed as they all stared at the cloud

"Rain?" Tomoyo asked, deciding to put her camera away for a moment out of the possible water hazard.

"I think its self explanatory Tomoyo." Naruto said with a blank stare for a moment.

Kero nodded, "Like Naruto said, it's pretty self-explanatory. However when combined with WOOD, they create such a jungle." Kero floated out from their hiding place, "Now, Sakura!"

Sakura nodded, stepping in front of everybody with Naruto next to her, "RAIN! WOOD!" The rain cloud stop raining and what looked like a little blue girl popped out of it. "That's enough mischief!" RAIN just giggled and flew over Sakura and Naruto, making a little drizzle. Sakura braced herself for an attack when RAIN flew above her and Naruto, only to lower her guard when she realized it was nothing more then light rain, "Oh, it's not so bad…"

Sakura was interrupted as the gentle rain turned into a waterfall. Sakura ran out of the rain while Naruto just stood there looking up before leaning back, sticking his head out of the waterfall, "Are you going to seal it?"

Sakura sweat dropped at Naruto, but RAIN heard what he said and began trying to escape. Kero had flown over to Sakura while Naruto kept RAIN from escaping the room, "Sakura, use the rainwater against itself!"

Sakura nodded and pulled out the WATERY card, "Card created by Clow. Lend your powers to my key! Transfer the magic dwelling within the card to this key and grant me your power! WATERY!" RAIN had stopped trying to escape when it noticed its rainwater was flowing over to Sakura through the air, spinning around Sakura's staff, which was being held straight up. WATERY sat there floating above the staff, awaiting Sakura's command, "Water, become a binding chain!" WATERY's eyes opened before dispersing into five different streams heading straight for RAIN, trapping it inside a water bubble. Sakura began to seal the card away, "Return to the guise you were meant to be in! Clow card!"

Naruto landed next to Sakura from having to jump around the room after RAIN to see it being drawn into the card. Sakura caught the card in her hand as all the water in the room vanished. Tomoyo walking up to Sakura filming with a cheerful smile, "You did it!"

Sakura gave a nod, "Now, we only have the main culprit trying to destroy the house." She said before turning to the trunk of the tree, "WOOD!"

"Wait a minute!" Kero yelled as he blocked Sakura's advance. Sakura only blinked in confusion as Kero smiled. The entire tree began to give off a gentle glow. The branches slowly receded back into the source of their growth. The main body of WOOD. A beautiful green woman covered in leaves. The woman smiled at Sakura until Naruto stepped out from behind the bookshelf. WOOD went from smiling to cowering as she hid behind Sakura.

Sakura looked over her shoulder confused at card, "What's wrong?"

"It's probably afraid of Naruto after that attack in the hallway. It did cause WOOD a lot of pain…" Kero explained, remembering the scream the card gave off earlier that day.

Naruto's guilt surfaced as he looked towards the ground while approaching Sakura, "WOOD… I'm sorry about attacking you… but I didn't really have an option seeing as we were about to be screwed by your branches…" At this point WOOD peaked over Sakura's shoulder as Naruto continued, "I promise it won't happen again…" WOOD seemed content with this answer as she slowly floated out from behind Sakura. It nodded to Naruto before closing its eyes and reverting back to its card of its own free will. Once it was back into its card state, it floated over to Sakura's hands, where it came to rest peacefully. Naruto sighed in relief once everything was settled, "Man today has been one big hassle…"

"No kidding… I have to do the laundry again!" Kero complained as he remembered the torture awaiting him.

Naruto sighed again as he remembered as well, "And we'll probably have to clean the house all over again…"

Sakura sweat dropped at the two as she walked over to the desk and took a pen, "Now to sign them. Sa-ku-ra. There." She said as she signed the two cards.

Kero had flown over to Sakura to observe her signage of the cards, "The card becomes your own for the first time after you come this far."

"Yes. I learned that the hard way…" Sakura said quietly before putting the two cards into the book. Meanwhile Naruto headed for the stairs, "I'm going to survey the damage."

"I help Naruto-san." Tomoyo called out after she finished filming Sakura sign the cards.

Sakura smiled at the two as watched them go up the stairs, "Come on Kero-chan."

"Way a head of ya!" Kero shouted as he flew off to the other parts of the house.

Sakura ran over to the stairs with the book of Clow in her arms, but stopped when she got there. She turned back to the desk, eyeing the family album laying on the surface, _"I can't help but wonder… what is it Naruto-kun doesn't want anyone to know…?"_

"Sakura! Come here quick!" Sakura rushed up stairs to everyone, who were now staring at the messy house.

Sakura was standing there in disbelief, "I-It's even worse then I thought it would be…"

Tomoyo had turned to the group offering to help, making Sakura and Kero cling onto her crying anime tears. After a few minutes, they both had let go, Kero still upset, "Still… I wish we had more help…"

Naruto stood there for a second processing what Kero said before slapping his forehead, "Arg! I'm such an idiot!" Everyone looked at Naruto as he formed a hand sign before saying, "Kage Bunshin!" Everyone watched as ten clones poofed into existence behind him, too shocked to say anything. Naruto turned to face his clones, "Ok guys, I want this place to shine when your done, now get to it!"

The clones nodded before going to work, making Kero get upset when he snapped out of his shock, "Why didn't you do that earlier today! We could have gone on the picnic!"

Naruto just looked at Kero, "And leave my clones, which can't seal Clow cards away, to find both cards, put them next to each other, and come back to a destroyed house." Kero clammed up when he heard that, knowing Naruto was right before giving off a yawn and heading up stairs, leaving Sakura, Naruto, and Tomoyo to hang out.

_Time skip: couple hours later_

Fujitaka and Toya had come home at the same time, walking in to see a sparking clean floor. The two looked into the living room to see Naruto snoozing on the couch, scratching himself a second before rolling over. They went up to Sakura's room to see her lying on her bed napping with her arm on top of Kero. Fujitaka smiled at his daughter, "Thank you for doing all the chores today. We'll have some cake later." He said, lifting said box of cake even though Sakura was sleeping.

Toya pulled his usual antics at this point, "But if you don't put your name on the cake, I'll eat it."

The door was then shut. Sakura groaned a bit before rolling over, "I wrote my name down properly…" She muttered in her sleep.

After Toya and Fujitaka returned to the first floor of the house, Toya looked to the basement door, "Father… does something seem off about the door?"

Fujitaka looked to the door for a moment, "Not that I can see."

Toya looked at the door a moment more before shrugging, "Must be seeing things."

Meanwhile behind the door sat two of Naruto's clones, left over from the cleaning. One was leaning on the wall while the other sat on the stairs. Clone one looked at the door from where he was standing, "How long do we have to do this again?" He whispered, knowing the family was home from the noise.

"Until we get a new door installed… I hope Tomoyo's contractor works fast and private…" Clone two said as he turned around to look at the basement entrance. Just before they had finished cleaning, the two clones with Naruto's permission tacked up a ninja tarp of the door, making it blend in perfectly with the scenery. Sakura didn't know about the tarp, simply thanking Naruto for somehow managing to rebuild the door. It wasn't until she was done that he was able to secretly ask Tomoyo to make a replacement door, explaining the tarp to her. Luckily for him, she agreed.

The two clones sighed quietly before one's stomach growled. "Time for a food run." Clone one said as he leaned off the wall, "I'll be back with some ramen."

Clone two only nodded as clone one left. Once clone one was gone, clone two sighed again, "This is going to be a long night…"

**Man that took a lot longer then I wished… Reason being I now have a night job which really restricted my schedule. Plus this being a rather easy going episode didn't make any easier. So that led me to decide to skip over JUMP and go straight to ILLUSION because my brain is cranking out ideas for it ^^**

******Reviewers Response:**

**First off I would like to say I'm sorry for the long wait. Like I said, night jobs are killer -.- I hope I am forgiven with this chapter and can produce the next one faster then this one.**

**Storyteller 36:**** And… those concepts are? A writer can't improve stories with out some details on what to improve or suggestions.**

**SaKaMo:**** Well I wanted to add a bit more elements to the story and costumes seemed like one way to go XD**

**Kopakanuvafan20:**** … Well how was it better? And I don't want the Naruto was a hanyou crap -.- I said it would come later but many just don't read AU's…**

**Konnichi1wa:**** Exactly what I was hoping for ^^ A pace that can be worked with. Thank you for pointing this out! ^^**

**WanderingDisciple:**** Yes those are valid points. But let me point these out in response. One, Naruto is best buds with Kyuubi in the original -.- As seen with KillerBee and the eight-tails, Genjutsu, which is supposed to be Naruto's weakness, is no longer an issue. That was over power number one that I did. Second was giving Naruto all his strengths right off the back considering he crossed the space time continuum. Didn't seem very realistic even in manga.  
Second, Danzo is still an issue as well as Orichimaru and Akatsuki. A lot more to work with and more hell to raise ^^  
Three, I'm trying not to make this a massive cross-over. The plot with get to crowed and become a block…  
Lastly, If I told you EVERYTHING I had planned for this one that I know I couldn't do in the original, you would see just how much I planned this story out, unlike the last one where it was mostly winging it.**

**DarkSyde24:**** Thank you ^^ Your insight is being very helpful. As for one thing, the light of reverse-summoning will come later and be very surprising.**

**Dragon Noir:**** Believe me there is a lot on Naruto's mind XD As for magic being similar to chakra, yes it is. Magic is mainly the spiritual energy of the body where as Chakra is the mixture of spiritual and physic energy of the body. Naruto was only able to sense Sakura's magic after a long time of trying to feel out chakra, and even then it was barely. Clow Cards are pure magic, so it would make sense he would be at least able to sense them don't you think? But since he's not trying to feel out anymore chakra or magic, so he's oblivious to Yukito's magic.**

**Kortir:**** It might take a good amount of chapters but she'll be getting them guaranteed.**

**Alteris:**** Thank you for the insight ^^ It is greatly noted.**

**Vandenbz:**** ^^ Good to know. As for the name… maybe is all I can say XD memories as well. Don't want to spoil too much O.o**

**Crosser:** **I did say it would be done later. Naruto will become foxy XD**

**I believe that I covered all that needed to be covered. If I didn't then please forgive me. Simply ask me the questions you want and I answer them to the best of my ability without spoiling much.**

****_**PLEASE READ, ENJOY, AND REVIEW!**_


	5. Ghost, Memory, or ILLUSION?

**Well the lack of reviews compared to previous chapters was rather… disheartening. But I shall endure! As one of my favorite says from Ratchet and Clank: A Crack in Time goes, "Every time you wish death upon us, it is because you care!"**

**Also sorry it took so long for the update. I planned to get it out sooner but things happened. My brother went overseas again, my job thinks I'm a slave monkey, and recently the Tornados ran through Alabama. Big nut shell.**

Regular talk

_Thought and thought talk_

**Demon talk**

_**Demon thought**_

(Author note)

**I don't own Naruto or Cardcaptor**

"HHHOOOEEE!" Sakura screamed suddenly at the end of her friend Naoko's story of her trip home from yesterday. Chiharu and Naoko were forced to plug their ears to prevent themselves from going deaf.

The two peeked an eye open when Sakura's scream ended, "S-Sakura-chan…!" Chiharu exclaimed, slightly upset with her friend for her ringing ears.

Sakura blushed in embarrassment, hiding her mouth behind her pom-poms, "I'm sorry…"

"Naoko-chan, is that story true?" Chiharu asked in an intrigued look. Naoko nodded in response, which lead Chiharu to ask, "Can it be that you saw something else?" Naoko shook her head this time, showing she was sure of what she saw.

Sakura turned away from the two shaking as she cried anime tears, "Let's stop talking about that… I can't stand scary stories!"

As if to torture her poor friend, Chiharu sprouted a smile as she said, "Hey, hey! Why don't we see if that story is true?" Sakura quiet literally popped back to her senses when she heard those words as Chiharu continued, "We'll be done with practice early today. Let's invite Rika-chan and all go together!"

Sakura panicked, spinning back around flailing her arms as she tried to find words to say, "Hey, hey, hey!"

They only reaction her friends gave Sakura to her panic was a curious gaze with a, "What?"

Sakura smiled at her chance to try and convince her friends to cancel their scary plans, "Y-You know, those woods… The other end is like a cliff. It's dangerous."

"It'll be okay if we don't go near that." Chiharu said with a easy going cheerful smile.

Sakura's hopes dampened upon these words, but persist she did, "B-But if a ghost really appears…"

"It'll be okay if we run away as soon as it shows up." Chiharu countered quick as a whip. Sakura's hopes went from damp, too soaked, too crushed as Chiharu didn't let her get another word in, "I'm saying it will be okay."

Sakura simply resumed her crying as the teacher blew her whistle, signaling break for the cheer squad was over. As Sakura walked back over to the forming formation, she mumbled to herself, "Why does everyone like scary stories? Scary things might happen… Why are they going?"

"Oh, Sakura-chan." Sakura's closest friend, Tomoyo, said as she walked by and took notice of her friend's mood, "What's wrong?"

"Tomoyo-chan…" A still tear stricken Sakura said before clinging onto Tomoyo with a cry, "Tomoyo-chan, come with me!"

Tomoyo, having no knowledge of what was going on, simply smiled and hugged her friend, "Of course."

This scene would have been touching, had it not been ruined by the sudden scream of our temporary resident ninja, "GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Everyone turned to see the blonde haired boy weaving between and over people with amazing acrobatic feats before diving into the bushes at the edge of the school building.

Those who didn't know Naruto simply stared in wonder as Sakura and Tomoyo walked over to said bushes. They both crouched down when they arrived, seeing nothing but leaves, shadows, and a pair of blue eyes looking around in a panic. Sakura tilted her head at the blonde's odder then usual behavior, "Naruto-kun, are you…"

Naruto simply shushed Sakura as he continued to look around, "Don't say my name or he'll find me!" He said in a nearly non-existent voice.

This made the two girls concerned as Tomoyo asked, "Who will find you?"

Naruto took one last glance around the school-yard to make sure it was safe, "My boss."

"Your boss?" Sakura asked before giving Naruto a stern look, "Are you skipping work again?"

"Of course not! My boss went…" Naruto started to explain before everyone turned to the gate upon hearing more yelling.

"Where are ya you little blonde raccoon? I've gotta brand you for taking my sandwich!" A clearly old man said as he wandered into the school yard holding a cattle branding rod. He looked around at the many students with a crazy look.

"… crazy again…" Naruto muttered before sighing, "He does this all the time. He'll scream something random and attack the closest person near him. Today was the non-existing sandwich disappearing and I was on my break…"

"Ah there you are you heathen!" The old man shouted as he swung the cattle brand at the hanging bars, the metal on metal action echoing all over the school yard. The old man then noticed something off about the cattle brand. It wasn't glowing red hot as it should have been, "Ah dang it… Chasin that heathen made my fancy branding stick cool off… I'll get him tomorrow." He said as he started to wonder off of the school property.

Everyone watched stupefied at the old man with the cattle brand as he wandered away. Sakura and Tomoyo were sweat dropping as the many murmurs filled the courtyard. "He's gone Naruto-kun." Sakura mindless said, trying to wrap her mind around what happened. It was baffling, even for a girl who recently started to captor magical cards.

"Thank goodness…" Naruto muttered as he climbed out of the bushes, "If that guy didn't pay so well I doubt he would have any workers…"

"Are you sure the money is worth it?" Tomoyo asked as she rested her hand on her cheek.

Naruto shrugged as he stuck his hands into his pocket, "He pays two-thousand two hundred fifty yen an hour."

"HOE? YOU'RE MAKING THAT KIND OF MONEY?" Sakura yelled when she heard, only to quickly cover her mouth a second afterward.

"Yeah… is it a lot here?" Naruto asked, having no knowledge of Japan's currency laws.

"Is it a lot he asks…" Sakura muttered quietly as she sulked, drawing circles in the ground, "I'd have to save up my allowance all year to make that munch…"

This only confused Naruto more while Tomoyo took it upon herself to explain, "Most people don't make more then around eight hundred fifty yen starting out. You're boss is a very generous man."

"Yeah, when he isn't trying to beat someone with something… I'm just glad he keeps all the swords and knifes we make in a safe…" Naruto said as he scratched the back of his head with a sour look, "So anything going on after school?"

Sakura stopped sulking by now, standing back up but still looked a bit depressed, "We're going to go check out Naoko-chan's ghost story after school…" Sakura stated before her fears came back, "I hate scary stories…"

"Ghost story huh…" Naruto whispered to himself while looking away having conflict with his moral compass, _"I'm not a fan of ghosts myself but… I can't let Sakura-chan go by herself if she's scared."_ Naruto thought before asking, "Can I come?"

"THANK YOU!" Sakura yelled as she clung onto Naruto crying in the same fashion she had with Tomoyo. Tomoyo only smiled and walked off to tell the others of Naruto's "invitation" to the gathering.

_A few hours later:_

As everyone calmly walked down the walkway in the forest, Sakura trailed behind with Naruto next to her, "Hey, let's not do this after all…"

"It's all right. It is still light out." Tomoyo replied as she looked over her shoulder to Sakura and Naruto.

Chiharu smiled as she followed Tomoyo's suit, "Yeah, I agree, there's nothing to worry about." Sakura only moaned as she looked down, only to smile slightly a second later when she felt Naruto's hand on her shoulder. Chiharu meanwhile turned her attention to the entire group, "You know, it's almost my mother's birthday. What do you think I should get her as a gift?" At this sentence, Sakura widened her eyes at these words as she seemed to remember something.

"Your mother likes to bake sweets Chiharu-chan. Perhaps a cute cake plate!" Rika stated with a hint of delight in her voice.

"A cake plate…" Chiharu pondered on the idea before turning back to Sakura, "Hey Sakura-chan, what do you think?"

Everyone stopped, knowing about the passing of Sakura's mother years ago. Chiharu covered her mouth as soon as she realized what she had said. Halfway through the conversation Sakura had widened her eyes at the topic. When everyone had stopped, she caught on to the tense moment and waved it off, "Oh, don't worry about it." She said with a smile before looking up in thought, _"That's right. This Sunday is my Mother's…"_

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto's asked, bringing Sakura out of her thoughts. She simply smiled more and shook her head before resuming the walk with everyone else. This puzzled Naruto for a second before he began to wonder on the topic,_ "I wonder… Just what were mine like? I spent so much time thinking about what my life would be like with them that I never thought about what they would be like in the first place…" _

Naoko continued to lead everyone to where she had seen the ghost. Soon they were wandering off the sidewalk into the forest. The sun, having nearly set, made the shadows of the tree cover the ground, making it hard on everyone to see. Everyone soon arrived at a clearing near a cliff with a broken rail. Naruto looked around the area, taking note of the railing, _"Why doesn't anyone fix that?"_

"It was here…" Naoko said as she and everyone else began to look around the clearing. After a minute, nothing showed up.

Chiharu sighed in disappointment at the lack of events, "There's nothing here… Maybe it doesn't come out unless it's night…"

Sakura clung onto Tomoyo as the group looked around one last time. She then felt something behind her, as did Naruto. Naruto reached for his concealed kunai as Sakura slowly turned around, only to scream upon seeing the same floating orb of light from Naoko's story. Everyone turned around to face the orb as Naruto stood ready for an attack. They all simply stared at the orb as it expanded into a large wall of light.

Seconds passed the girls simply ran away screaming. Well all except Tomoyo, who was pulled away by Sakura with a puzzled look on her face. Only one person remained behind. Naruto, the shinobi of Konoha, was frozen in place at the figures he was staring at, "It can't be…!"

Meanwhile the girls were panting back on the sidewalk, each one shouting what they had seen, Sakura starting, "A long-haired woman!"

Each person had recollected what they had seen. But Tomoyo's is the one that got everyone's attention as she said, "A large nikuman." When everyone turned their eyes to Tomoyo, she simply held up her index finger, "I mean, what I saw was a large nikuman…"

No one knew what to make of the information other then Sakura as she gave off a simple, "Hoe…?"

While the other four pondered on Tomoyo's observation, Tomoyo took notice of an absent hair color, "Has anyone seen Naruto-san?"

Sakura and the others all looked around when they heard Tomoyo only to scream again as the sound of an explosion. Sakura turned to the cliff, knowing where the sound had come from, "Tomoyo-chan, make sure everyone gets out of the forest! I'm going to go look for Naruto-kun!" And before anyone could argue with her, Sakura took off back down the pathway.

Naruto gritted his teeth as he stood in the small crater he made. He was shaking in anger as he dug his fingers into the dirt, "That bastard… All this time and he's been…! And that woman… She smiled like she knew me. Who was she?"

"Naruto-kun!" Sakura yelled as she ran into the clearing, only to suddenly stop at the edge of the crater, "What did you do?"

Naruto sighed as he walked to the edge of with a grim face, "Attacked a phantom." He said as he walked past her, ignoring the hand the offered by Sakura to help him out of the hole. "I need to be alone…" He told Sakura as he walked past her.

Sakura watched Naruto as he disappeared into the forest, leaving only one question on her mind, "Naruto-kun… What did you see to make you so angry?"

_Back at Sakura's house:_

Sakura was taking a relaxing bath with Kero, scrubbing her hair as she told Kero about her day, "It was really scary!"

Kero was having fun in the tub with a toy boat, swimming around playfully as he asked, "Sakura, you're scared of ghosts? Even though you're fine when you fight Clow cards?"

"If I don't know what something is, I can't stand it. Clow cards, at least I know what they are." Sakura said as she raised nozzle of the water faucet to rinse her hair.

Kero had moved to the side of the tub by now, leaning on the edge, "That's some reasoning that I kinda understand, and kinda don't… But everyone saw something different, right?"

"Yeah. Everyone saw something scary except Tomoyo." Sakura said as she entered the bath water, "Naruto saw something too but… whatever it was at the cliff really upset him. He tried to attack it…"

"Hmm… was there such a card…?" Kero murmured to himself as he floated back into the center of the tub, "I'm also a bit curious as to what could make Naruto simply attack. He doesn't seem like the type to resort to attacking right away."

"I know… That's what has me worried…" Sakura replied as she relaxed in the bath, "I'll try to talk to him tomorrow and find out what he saw."

_With Naruto:_

Naruto was lying on the branch of a tree, looking up through the leaves at a perfect window the tree made for the moon, "Why him… The Yondaime…" Naruto wondered out loud as his mind turned in turmoil, _"The Yondaime died that night he sealed Kyuubi inside me… So why did he show up here?_

_Flashback:_

"_It can't be… Yondaime? Why are you here? Everyone thinks your dead!" Naruto yelled at the image before him. He then noticed the second silhouette take form into a woman with long red hair wearing a dress, "Who is she? Wait never mind that, we have problems! Orichimaru and Akatsuki are acting up back home and I need a way back! But you can help me right?" Naruto nearly yelled, but managed to keep his voice down by some miracle of Kami._

_Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime himself, simply stood in front of the young blonde with his red haired woman, whom Naruto had no knowledge of. He and the woman both raised a hand to Naruto, offering them to Naruto to take. Naruto simply became puzzled by the jester, "You want me too… take your hands? So you know the way home?" Naruto yelled this time, any confusion he had being replaced by excitement. Although it didn't last long seeing as a thought soon weighed on his mind._

_Sakura, and what she would do if he left._

_Naruto sighed for a moment as he crossed his arms, "Wait… I need to go tell Sakura-chan that I have to leave… Can you wait for a bit?" The couple only smiled at Naruto, giving him an unexpected reaction. This made Naruto tilt his head, "So… is that a yes?" He was answered by the two starting to move away from him, looking like they were hovering off the ground._

_A wave of panic shot through Naruto, "Okay, okay! I'll send a clone… Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" Naruto shouted as he made the hand sign for the jutsu. A single clone appeared, holding the same solemn look as his maker. The real Naruto didn't turn to his clone, not wanting to look at the mirror of his feelings, "There… Let's go…" Naruto said completely monotone. It was the worst way to leave in his mind, but the Yondaime made it clear, it was now or never._

_Or so Naruto thought, until his hands never made contact. He only blinked for a second before trying again. This led to the same results. His hands passed right through as if he was grabbing at air. This worked in doing only one thing, pissing Naruto off. Held his hand out to his clone as rage filled his eyes, "What the hell are you doing? I thought you were going to take me home!" Minato and The woman only smiled more, again not giving Naruto a clear answer._

_The clone shared in Naruto's anger as it started to form a Rasengan. "You bastard! You seal Kyuubi inside of me then mess with my head like this! Well have a taste of your own technique!" Naruto yelled as his clone grabbed his arm, throwing him at the two. Naruto didn't care so much about the woman he didn't know, but the man he had idolized mocking him set Naruto off._

_Everything happened in the blink of an eye afterward. Naruto went through the Yondaime, seeing nothing inside of him. The next thing he knew his Rasengan was meeting the ground, which exploded on contact._

_Naruto growled as he glared at the ground, "Why… Why is he here…?"_

_End of flashback:_

"I've been thinking about it all night and I still can't come up with an answer… The only thing is that they weren't real…" Naruto said with a sigh as he stared at the night sky, "And now I have to apologize to Sakura-chan for acting like that to her…" Naruto let himself fall off the branch, flipping himself over to land on his feet at the tree's base, "Now's a good a time as any I suppose." And without a second thought, Naruto took off towards Sakura's home.

After a pleasant dinner with her father, who had to leave again for a presentation, Sakura chatted with Kero while cleaning the dishes. Kero simply floated over her shoulder, not offering to help in anyway, "So your dad and older brother are both out?"

"Big brother is at work still. Father has another presentation and is out of town." Sakura told the magical guardian before the sound of a window opening upstairs caught her ear. She looked over her shoulder to the sound and waited until she heard the sound of foot steps, "Naruto-kun, welcome back!"

Naruto waved as he walked into the dinning room, "Hey. Sorry about… you know… earlier today."

Sakura didn't show any sadness as she gave her usual cheerful smile, "It's alright. Everyone was scared at what they saw, even though everyone saw something different."

Naruto took a seat at the table, "I wasn't scared… I was angry."

"Angry at what?" Sakura asked only to instantly regret the question as Naruto stared at the table, "Uh… Father made some pudding before he left!" Sakura said before winking at Naruto and Kero, "Let's eat it together, including Big brother's share!"

"Pudding?" Both Naruto and Kero said at the said time before the phone rang.

Kero flew off to fetch the cordless phone as Sakura smiled, _"Good thing Naruto-kun tends to think with his stomach like Kero-chan sometimes."_ She thought just before Kero returned with the phone and placed it next to her ear, "Yes, Kinomoto residence." Naruto at this point had walked up to the fridge and took a plate of the set pudding out while staring at the phone with curiosity as Sakura spoke with the caller, "Tomoyo-chan! What's wrong?" Naruto moved around Sakura to the silverware draw, only to stop and sigh as he heard, "They went to the woods again?"

Naruto shut the drawer before going to put the pudding back into the fridge, "So much for getting to eat." Naruto muttered as Sakura let out a fearful cry.

"Please?"

"No."

Within half an hour, everyone was gathered on the walkway behind the school. Sakura and Kero were both sweat dropping at the seen in front of them. "We came here to see if there was a Clow card right…?" Kero asked while rubbing the side of his head

"Yeah." Sakura replied, holding her staff close to her chest, still being afraid at the thought of a ghost.

"Please?" Tomoyo asked Naruto for another time while holding a bag in her arms.

Naruto simply gave her his normal stare, "No."

"But it will make you look cute!" Tomoyo argued.

Naruto only scoffed as he turned away crossing his arms, "I'm a shinobi. I'm not supposed to look cute." **(Every man has their pride)**

Tomoyo gave up, seeing as that had been the twenty-eighth time she had asked. She put her finger to her chin in her usual manner while looking to Sakura, "I guess I didn't take that into consideration when making this set of costumes… But at least I get to see Sakura in her costume!" Tomoyo said happily, flipping moods like a switch.

"Even though she looks like a scared rabbit that's about to be eaten…?" Naruto mumbled, not getting Tomoyo's strange obsession in anyway over Sakura and clothes.

No one seem to hear Naruto as Sakura gulped before asking, "Hey, people got hurt when they came here, right?"

"Yes. Chiharu went with a group of about five people but they all panicked when the ghost appeared, and they tripped and such… I heard it was a mess." Tomoyo explained, repeating what she was told.

"It's not a ghost!" Naruto snapped as memories of his last encounter surfaced. Everyone jumped at Naruto's sudden flare as he took a deep breath before looking away, "Sorry… I just really don't think it's a ghost."

Sakura also remembered that night and the scene she came across, "Naruto-kun, you don't have to come if you…"

"I do actually." He interrupted, "I just… I have to be sure of something…" He said as he looked back up at everyone, only to glare in Tomoyo's direction, "And it looks like we're out of time."

Tomoyo turned around as Sakura and Kero gasped to see the same orb from the earlier that day. Said orb took off into the forest upon being sighted. Before anyone could react, Naruto took off after it. Kero blinked for a second before turning to Sakura, "Sakura!"

"FLY!" Sakura yelled as she tapped the card with her staff. The wings formed as Sakura mounted the staff, taking off after Naruto and the orb.

"_It's leading right to…" _Naruto thought to himself as they came to the same spot as before, _"The cliff…"_ A second later, Sakura landed right behind him.

"Naruto-kun…" She said quietly before looking at the orb, "What is it waiting for."

"Us." Naruto said as the orb expanded into a wall of light. A deep growl emitted from Naruto as he watched Minato and the red haired woman appear again. The same smile. The same offering of hands. Naruto clenched his fist but managed to keep himself from attacking as he asked, "Sakura-chan, what do you see?"

"M-Mother…" Sakura said quiet, in near shock at what she was seeing.

"_So I was right…"_ Naruto thought as he reached for his kunai, "Just what the hell are you?"

"Naruto-kun… It's my Mother!" Sakura argued while starting to smile happily at her mother.

Naruto's eyes narrowed at the two phantoms in front of him, "That's not what I see…" He gripped his kunai tighter, but reframed from attacking, remembering how ineffective it was the first time, seeing as the crater was ten feet to his left.

Tomoyo and Kero came running as if responding to Naruto's yell. Tomoyo stopped a bit away from the two while Kero charged forward, "What's wrong you two?" He was stopped however by an invisible force, electrocuting the little guy before repelling him into Tomoyo's arms.

As Kero laid in Tomoyo's arms unconscious, Naruto whipped around to his scream of pain, "What happened?"

If only Naruto hadn't taken his eyes off of Sakura, for she started walking towards the cliff. "Kero-chan was…" Tomoyo started to say before she looked up to see Sakura two steps from the edge, "Sakura-chan!"

Naruto's eyes widened before he spun around on his heels, dashing towards Sakura without a moment's hesitation. He reached out for her just as she was a step away from the cliff. Just as he was about to grab her by her costume, she stepped off the cliff, eyes closing as if she was being lured asleep. "Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo shouted as Naruto dived off after her.

He reached into his back pouch, pulling out a kunai on a wire as grabbed her by her shirt collar. He pulled her up while flipping himself over, throwing the kunai while praying for his luck to still be good. It seemed to be as the kunai wrapped around a sturdy part of the remaining railing. The wire instantly tightened, pulling on his arm hard enough for anyone near by to hear a sickening crack come from his shoulder.

Tomoyo ran to the cliff in a hurry, especially upon hearing Naruto's scream of pain. She looked down at the two as they swung back and forth horrified at not being able to help.

Naruto groaned as he struggled to pull himself up, only to feel pain in his shoulder, _"Damn it… A can't feel my arm… Did I break my shoulder…?"_ He looked down towards the ground worried, _"If I drop from this high I don't know if Sakura-chan will be hurt… But I can't just let us hang here especially if someone comes by…" _He thought before his eyes widened. He felt the wire slipping out of his hand.

"_No!" _Naruto thought as he lost his grip, plummeting straight down. Tomoyo's scream rang in his ears as he looked down at the ground, _"This is going to hurt but…" _Naruto rolled himself and Sakura to where his back was facing the ground with Sakura laying on his chest and closed his eyes waiting for impact.

But the only thing he felt was being caught in someone's arms. This only confused him as he also felt the feeling of floating. Naruto turned to the person holding him and Sakura and nearly panicked at the sight. It was Sakura's late mother, Nadeshiko. Naruto blinked at the ghostly woman as his brain failed to process what was happening, "Are you… are you Sakura's Okaa?"

Nadeshiko's spirit smiled and nodded as she set the two on the ground. Naruto looked back up only to see nothing but sky and lights. Sakura's mother had disappeared, leaving Naruto even more confused, "Were we just saved… by a ghost?" He whispered to himself before hearing a call.

"Naruto-san! Sakura-chan!" Yukito called out as he ran up to them, "Are you two okay?"

"Yeah." Naruto answered as he carefully stood up while holding Sakura, "We slipped off the cliff. Sakura-chan fainted when she started to fall. I grabbed her as we fell and… I guess got lucky."

Yukito smiled in relief before noticing Naruto wasn't moving his left arm. At all. Not even a subtitle movement. Which raised the question from Yukito, "Naruto-san, is your arm alright?"

"Huh?" Naruto looked down at his dislocated shoulder, "Oh its nothing. I just dislocated it when I grabbed the edge of the cliff up there while holding Sakura-chan."

Yukito had made it apparent to pick up Sakura at this point, seeing as Naruto only had use of one arm, "Come back to my home! It's nearby and my neighbor is a doctor!" Naruto only nodded and followed Yukito giving off a grunt as he moved his arm into a more comfortable position.

"_Wh… What happened?" _Sakura thought as she slowly opened her eyes. In a second she realized it wasn't her ceiling she was looking at. She sat right up, looking around at the unfamiliar room.

"How you feeling?" A voice asked from the other side of the room. Sakura's head whipped around to see Naruto sitting against the wall, arm in a sling.

Before he could blink, Sakura threw the blanket covering her off and crawled over to Naruto, grabbing his arm, "Naruto-kun! What happened to you?" Naruto grunt of pain made her quickly let go however.

When Naruto managed to make the pain subside, he looked at Sakura with quick laugh, "You fall off a cliff and the first thing you worry about when you wake up is my arm?" He responded, a little surprised at her reaction, which was a tile of her head with her patient "hoe", "Don't you remember? You walked right off the cliff and passed out."

Sakura blinked a few times before shaking her head, "No I don't… All I remember is seeing my mother at the cliff… After that, it's all blank."

Naruto sighed at this, _"Stopping whatever it is doing this is going to be more complicated then I thought…"_

Before the two could talk more, the door to the room slid open, "Ah, you're awake." Yukito said as he walked in with a tray holding a pitcher of milk and glasses.

"Yukito…!" Sakura said in surprise before noticing the oversized shirt she was wearing, "Then these clothes…?"

"We're at my house. My grandmother dressed you and put your clothes in the laundry. Grandfather put Naruto's arm in the sling before they left." Yukito explained as he poured the milk into the glasses. As he handed Sakura a glass he asked, "Sakura-chan, you fell off the cliff. Do you remember that?"

Sakura simply shook her head as Naruto spoke up, "I told you, she fainted as she started to fall. I'd be surprised if she did remember."

"I suppose so." Yukito said with his usual smile before turning back to Sakura, "Did you thank Naruto-san yet? If it wasn't for him things might have been a lot worse."

"_Naruto-kun saved me… again."_ Sakura gave a quiet sigh at this thought before asking, "What about Tomoyo-chan?"

"Ladies wearing sunglasses came to pick her up." Yukito said as an image of Tomoyo security force flashed in Sakura and Naruto's mind. "She was very worried about you both, but when I told her that I would call Toya…"

"Oh boy…" Naruto thought as he pictured Toya glaring at him, or worse, hurting him.

"Don't worry. I'll explain it to him." Yukito said with a cheerful smile as he pictured the same thing as Naruto, "By the way Naruto-san, what is your house number? I would like to call your parents."

Yukito noticed Sakura and Naruto jump a bit. Sakura danced around with words trying to figure out what to say when Naruto suddenly said, "I don't have any…"

"Oh… I'm so sorry… I just assumed that…" Yukito said, feeling extremely uncomfortable as tension filled the room.

Naruto only held up his good hand and shook his head, "Don't worry about it. I don't tell many people."

The awkward feeling in the air didn't last long however as Sakura suddenly remembered the smallest member of the group, "Oh yeah! Kero-chan!"

"Oh the orange plush toy?" Yukito picked up on, somehow managing to completely flip moods back to cheerful, puzzling Naruto, "Tomoyo-chan said that she will borrow it for today."

Sakura sighed in relief before finishing her glass of milk. She then laid back down on the futon, feeling sleepy once more. Yukito tucked her in before petting her head. Just before falling sleep, Sakura opened her eyes for a moment, "Yukito-san… I met my Mother… On top of the cliff. I wonder if that's my Mother's ghost…" Yukito only smiled at her as she continued, "Big brother told me long ago that there are reasons why ghosts appear. Why is Mother in a place like that…?"

"But… if it really was your Mother, do you think she would put you in danger, Sakura-chan?" Yukito asked, posing a rather relevant question to her.

Sakura pondered this as she fell asleep. When her breathing was slow and even, Yukito looked up to Naruto, "Did you see Sakura-chan's Mother?"

"Yeah, but not at the top of the cliff." Naruto answered as he watched Sakura sleep, "It was after I jumped off for Sakura-chan. As we fell, I felt someone catch us both. When I looked up, there she was, gently setting us down on the ground.

"I see." Yukito said before taking the cup and tray back to the kitchen.

Toya had shown up minutes later, glaring at Naruto until Yukito explained everything, but Toya still stared at Naruto as they walked down the street, even while he was talking to Yukito and carrying Sakura piggy back. "Sorry for the trouble, Yuki."

"No trouble at all." Yukito said as he carried a bag with Sakura's clothes, "Sakura-chan said she met her mother. In the woods behind the elementary school. Have you seen her too? Your late mother."

"I have… but not behind the school." Toya answered as he remembered himself and Sakura when they were both little, "It's my fault that she can't stand ghosts and the sort. Ever since she was little, I kept telling her about the lady with the transparent body over there or how a grandfather with white hair was floating in midair."

"That's how Sakura-chan became so scared of them."

"She can't see them, but can at least sense them. She was always crying without me saying anything." Toya said before looking down at Naruto, "What about you. You afraid of ghosts?"

"I… guess I am." Naruto sighed before looking up to the night sky, "But not because they're scary. I'm afraid of why they come to see me."

"What do you mean?" Yukito asked, genially curious about Naruto's ghost disposition.

"Well…" Naruto started as he tried to phrase his thoughts, "You never know why a ghost may visit you. It may be for good reasons, bad reasons, or simply strange reasons. It's those reasons that scare me. I never knew my parents. I've always wanted to meet them, but if I meet their ghosts… Then I know I'll never get that chance."

Toya looked from Naruto back to the road, "I suppose that's a decent reason." He glanced at Naruto's arm as it rested in its make-shift sling, "Why don't you come stay at our house tonight."

"Really?" Naruto yelled out of shock, jumping a couple feet away from Toya, "This isn't some kind of trick is it?"

"No. Just don't get use to it. I'm only repaying you for helping Sakura." Toya said as he turned away from the boy getting to close to his sister in his mind, "Shouldn't you see a doctor about your shoulder?"

"It's just dislocated. I'll pop it back in once when we get to your house." Naruto said shrugging his good shoulder.

"Why didn't you do it at Yuki's?"

"Sakura-chan was in the room. I didn't want to wake her." Naruto said with a blank stare at Toya, "We'd just fallen off a cliff, last thing I wanted was to scare her more."

"Good call. That wouldn't sit well with Toya's sister complex." Yukito said with a chuckle only to earn a "Shut up!" from Toya.

_Next morning:_

Naruto sat on the floor of Sakura's room, rolling his shoulder, "Never letting Toya help me again..." He grumbled as he watched Sakura's television. A giggle came from behind the book Sakura was reading, knowing of Naruto's pain after his scream woke herself and half of her neighbors. "It's not that funny." Naruto told her, looking over his shoulder at Sakura, who was sitting in bed with her book.

"It is from my perspective." Sakura replied just before a knock came from her door, "Yes?"

"Sakura-chan! Naruto-san!" Tomoyo cried out as she walked in.

"Tomoyo-chan!" Sakura answered happily as she closed her book. Naruto stood up as she walked in, moving over to the Sakura's desk chair.

"Are you both all right? You weren't at school today." Tomoyo said as she rushed over to Sakura's bedside.

Sakura smiled as she pumped her arms with her cheerful smile, "Yeah! We're fine!"

"A little sore but fine." Naruto added as he rubbed his shoulder, "Never let Toya help you pop a bone back into place."

"Your arm was broken?"

Naruto shook his head before looking out the window, "Nah, just dislocated. It popped right back into place."

"Naruto-kun's been complaining about it all morning. He's fine." Sakura said with a giggle, only to giggle louder along with Tomoyo when Naruto gave her a slight glare.

Then suddenly the basket Tomoyo had with her opened as Kero popped out with a flower in his mouth. He sullenly flew out of the basket onto the book Sakura had been reading. He set the flower down in front of her so he could speak, "I'm sorry... I couldn't do anything..."

"No..." Sakura replied as she picked up the flower, "Thank you."

As Sakura sniffed the flower Naruto raised a finger, "Hey where's my apology gift."

"You let Sakura fall off the cliff!" Kero yelled as he instantly stood on his hind legs, pointing at Naruto.

Naruto only scoffed and returned the point, "Only after you got knocked out by nothing but air and distracted me!"

"Enough you two! We're all okay so let it go." Sakura yelled at the two, quickly making the two go silent.

Tomoyo simply found the scene amusing before speaking the question on her mind, "But what in the world was that light...?"

"Mother was there in those woods." Sakura said as she took the picture of her mother off her bed stand.

"It's not your Okaa." Naruto interjected as he stood up, "You saw your mother, I saw something else. Tomoyo and Kero didn't see anything besides light. It doesn't add up." Naruto explained as he had one of his moments of brilliance.

Sakura, Tomoyo, and Kero all looked at each other for a moment before Sakura asked, "Will you tell us what you saw?"

They all noticed Naruto grimace at the question, "It'll take a while to explain it all." That didn't deter the three's curiosity as they waited for an explanation. Naruto only sighed when no one voiced an objection, "I saw a woman with long red hair and the Yodaime Hokage. The woman I didn't know, but the Yodaime I know about all to well. He's the hero of my village."

"Your home?" Kero asked as he sat down on the book.

"Yeah. The Yodaime was the leader at one point before he died defending the village. He did what no one else could. He defeated a demon that threatened the village."

Sakura gasped in shock, listening to Naruto's story like a little kid does with a fairy tale. Granted that's what it could be considered in her world. Tomoyo seemed just as enticed with the story, "A demon? It sounds like an amazing feet."

"It is. The demon was killing hundreds of people before the Yodaime managed to stop it. My parents may have been in those numbers or not. I don't know… I do know he was so strong that everyone in the shinobi nations knows about him..." Naruto said before he took a deep breath, "He succeeded in defending the village, so I doubt his spirit would come back." Naruto then smiled a bit as he looked at Sakura, "Besides, from what Sakura has said about her Okaa, she's too kind to just lead her own daughter off a cliff." Sakura could only smile softly at Naruto's words, utterly speechless that her remembered the few times she had gone on and spoke about her mother.

Silence filled the room for a moment however before Kero spoke up, "Sakura sees her Okaa, Naruto his village hero and a strange woman… How are they connected?"

"Sakura's Okaa and the Yodaime both have passed on." Tomoyo answered as she cupped her chin, "But with no information on the red haired woman its not enough to go on."

"We need to go back." Sakura said as lifted her book off her lap to get out of bed, " If we don't other people might have the same thing happen to them that did us, and they won't have Naruto-kun or magic to help them… We have to do something about this."

Kero was about to protest in fear of Sakura getting hurt when Naruto cut him off, "No, we're going again Kero, we have to stop it before someone does fall off that cliff." Sakura nodded in agreement, getting out of bed to walk next to Naruto, both looking toward the sky.

Tomoyo couldn't help but smile at the two. From her perspective, they would be an amazing couple, if their feelings were to reach each other, _"I have a feeling Naruto-san isn't telling us everything. The way he told us what happened left to many holes that aren't filled… I just hope his secret isn't a horrible one."_

That night the group stood at the cliff, waiting for the orb to appear, Kero and Tomoyo talking to Sakura in her newest battle costume

This outfit is mainly a yellow color but it also has grey parts on her shoulder and a white hems on the skirt. The main part of the outfit is the skirt since it looked like an umbrella but it is also the focus point of the whole outfit. The skirt focuses out of the centre into split parts so it gives Sakura more freedom when capturing the card. It has a frilly hem and this goes all the way around the skirt. The skirt is attached to the main outfit. The main outfit is again pretty basic since there is only the yellow part and the top part of the outfit which is white goes all the way to the collar. There are some shoulder pads which go over the main part of the outfit and they are yellow with a grey strip going all around them. Although the whole shoulder pad does not touch Sakura's shoulder and this gives it a slightly futuristic look.

The tights are very white and they go just past Sakura's ankle but the tights also have frilly bits at the top of them. The shoes are mainly white but with a yellow sole and also with a yellow sides and with a white bar going over the front of the shoes. Sakura also wears some white gloves which are yet again frilly at the end but they only go just past Sakura's wrist. Lastly, the headwear seems to be only used for communication with an antenna on one side.

Naruto stood still watching the cliff in his normal clothing Tomoyo had made for him, waiting for the orb as Kero finished talking to the group, "It will! My hunches are never wrong!"

"How can it be a hunch if your never wrong about it?" Naruto asked before turning to the cliff. "It's here." Naruto told everyone as he walked towards the cliff to where the orb of light was floating. Sakura walked up next tom him carefully as the orb expanded into the wall of light. Everyone watched as Nadeshiko appeared, surprising everyone but Sakura when they saw her. But it wasn't just Nadeshiko. Two other figures appeared around next to her. The two only Naruto recognized. The Yodaime and mysterious red haired woman.

"Are they…?" Sakura asked as she turned to Naruto, only to see him nod.

Tomoyo lowered her camera from her eye surprised by what she was seeing, "Sakura-chan's Okaa… They that means the other two are the people Naruto-san saw last time we were here."

"It's just like Naruto said… But why can we all see the same thing this time?" Kero pondered while keeping a careful eye on the two.

"Mother…" Sakura mumbles as she started to walk closer to the image, only to have Naruto stop her by placing a hand on her shoulder.

Naruto let go of Sakura as soon as she stopped, stepping up next to her, "Just what the hell are you? Why do you keep showing us these images?"

"Naruto-kun… What if that really is my Mother? What if the Yodaime came to say he's sorry about your family?" Sakura asked questions coming off the top of her head.

Naruto glanced at her before shaking his head, "If that's true then why don't they talk to us? Besides…" Naruto pulled Sakura to the edge of the cliff as he stuck his hand out, "One thing Ojii-chan told me when I was little is that you never forget the feeling of your family embracing you, no matter how young or old are. Does that feel like your Okaa in anyway?"

Sakura looked up at the floating image of her mother before reaching out for her Okaa's arms with one hand while keeping a firm grasp on Naruto so not to fall off the cliff. She managed to reach her Okaa's hand, only for it to go right through and feel nothing. No warmth, no cold, no nothing. Like nothing was there but air. _"This isn't… This isn't Mother…"_ Sakura's expression quickly changed from loving concern to anger, "You're not my Mother! Who are you?"

The images in front of everyone started to fizzle out into a strange pattern. "I recognize that pattern! It is a Clow Card after all!"

Sakura nodded, twirling her staff as she raised it, "Return to the guise that you were meant to be in! Clow card!" The card went from a strange pattern to a silvery color before being drawn into the card. Tomoyo and Kero ran up to the two seeing the situation resolved.

Kero flew over Sakura's shoulder, looking at the card, "It's the ILLUISION card. That's why what everyone saw was different."

Tomoyo lowered her camera when Kero finished, "What do you mean?"

"ILLUISION is a card that shows people what they want to see. It shows what's inside their hearts, so it's normal for it to be different for everyone."

Naruto tuned out Kero at this point, turning to Sakura to see tears start forming in Sakura's eyes. "I'm glad… that Mother isn't all alone here… I would be happy if I could see her… But I would be happier if she was in the beautiful place in the sky."

"I'm happy for you Sakura-chan." Naruto said as his cheery smile returned.

A snap from Kero drew the two's attention, "Oh! I know how to tell why Naruto saw what he saw! What were you thinking about when you came here the first time?"

Naruto took a second to think, trying to remember, "I think it was… what my parents were like. Who they were. Things like that… Wait you don't mean that…?"

"It's possible those two are or were your parents. ILLUSION doesn't have any boundaries like most other cards. It can see inside the hearts of people and copy that image. Even though you never remember seeing your parents, you can remember their presence alone." Kero explained while landing on Sakura's shoulder.

"It would make sense." Tomoyo voiced as she turned off her camera, having recorded the capture, "The image we saw and Naruto look to similar to be a coincidence."

Sakura smiled at the knowledge, thinking Naruto would be overjoyed to have a lead on his family. Instead he was just staring at the ground, "Naruto-kun…?"

"Huh?" Naruto blinked as he looked up at everyone, "Sorry but… I need to go think about this…"

Sakura's smiled dampened but didn't faultier, "I understand. I'll leave the window unlocked." Naruto nodded before turning around and walking off to ponder his thoughts.

After wondering around for an hour, Naruto stopped in the park. Seeing no one around, he took a chance. He bit his thumb, went through the hand signs, and slammed his palm down on the ground, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

Gamakichi stood there when the smoke cleared, "Yo Naruto."

"Hey, I need a favor Kichi." Naruto said as he pulled out a letter, "Give this to Ero-sennin."

Gamakichi nodded, taking the letter, "Sure. What's this about?"

"Just a question I need him to try and answer." Naruto said before pulling out a bag of chips, "And your payment."

"Express delivery it is!" Gamakichi said before poofing back to his home. Naruto sighed a bit before heading back to Sakura's home, hoping that it didn't play out like it did in his head.

_Meanwhile:_

Sakura had fallen fast asleep before Naruto had made it back. The day was so tiring for her she didn't remember to put the card away in the book, simply holding it in her hand. What no one expected was what the card would do as it started to dimly glow.

_Dream-world:_

Sakura seemed to be having a dream of her and Naruto simply hanging out in school, Naruto even in the school uniform. They seemed to simply be chatting away, until Sakura suddenly asked, "Hey Naruto-kun, why did seeing the Yodaime make you angry?"

That was the trigger. The sky turned grey as the school crumbled to pieces. The trees aged to withering logs that fell to the ground with a light thud. Sakura looked around in a panic as the world around them started to burn as Naruto spoke with his head hanging, "Because…" He started as he slowly raised his head to show a pair of glowing red slit eyes as he grew a pair of fox ears and a tail, "Of what he did to me!" He yelled.

As soon as Sakura looked into those eyes she felt herself be drawn somewhere else as the world morphed into a large sewer with a cage. The second the cage appeared, a claw slammed as a pair of giant eyes and snarling teeth appeared.

_Real World:_

"HHHHOOOEEEE!" Sakura screamed as she bolted up covered in sweat, also causing Kero to fall off the bed in a panic, _"Wha… What was that? Naruto-kun… that monster… Is he…?" _Sakura started to think before she realized something was in her other hand. She looked down to see what she was holding, only to gasp when she saw the dimly glowing ILLUSION card in her hand.

"Hey Sakura, what's with all the screaming…?" Kero asked as he attempted the rub the sleep from his eyes. Sakura then retold her dream to him, leaving out no details up to the card. Kero only hummed a bit before closing his eyes, "The card probably reacted to you subconsciously wanting to know why Naruto hated the Yodaime and fed the answer into your dream…" He said as he slowly floated back down onto the bed, drifting off to sleep again.

_"Then… if I wanted to know why Naruto-kun was angry at the Yodaime and it showed Naruto-kun turning into that… thing then… The Yodaime made Naruto-kun a monster... Naruto-kun… is a monster…" _Sakura thought as she slowly came to realize her dream. Naruto was a monster. Little did she know just how both far off and on the dot she was.

Sakura was thankful that Toya and her Father were still out since she had no way to explain her nightmare. She waited for Naruto for a moment before her mind began to race at what she would say_, "What if its true… What if Naruto-kun is a monster…"_ She pondered these thoughts before rubbing her temples in frustration, _"I can't call him a monster! He's done so much for me! I'll… I'll just talk to him tomorrow about it…"_ Sakura got out of bed, changed into a pair of fresh pajamas, and crawled back under her covers. This time she made sure the card was safely in the Clow book before going to sleep.

Sakura seemed to have completely forgotten about last night as ran down the stairs yelling"HHOOEEE! I'm gonna be late!" Sakura rushed into the kitchen while Naruto waited outside the front door. Sakura ran back to the dining room where Toya was reading the paper with a small loaf of bread and a glass of milk. Sakura ate the loaf in one bite, drinking the milk after to help it go down before running back to the kitchen. She then went to leave, but stopped and looked at her Mother's picture, going over and placing a present in front of it, "Happy birthday, Mother. I love you!"

Toya looked up from his paper at Sakura, only to become surprised when he saw their Mother floating behind Sakura. Sakura announced she was leaving, heading to the door as Toya looked at his Mother, "I was just a little worried this time, so I came by. But it looks like she's all right now, and she's made an interesting friend. I just hope they don't hit any bumps in the future."

Toya watched as she vanished back to heaven, a smile forming on his face as he started to plot ways to torture Naruto, _"Like hell I'll let that gaki near Sakura without a war."_

**Notes:**

**Well as you can see I took this a different way then last time. Its been nagging at my brain to do it this way. Also, ILLUSION's little trick. No one said that the cards don't have other abilities. And before I get "Well DREAM does the same thing!" No it doesn't. DREAM makes normal people have strange dreams or dreams about whats precious to them. For people with magic, it becomes a foretelling dream, a dream about the future. ILLUSION projects what's in someone's heart. Kero never said it couldn't show someone else's secrets.**

**Reviewer Response:**

**Wolfpackersson09: ****Interesting ideas. They have made some gears turn. Where they go we'll have to see later XD**

**Dragoon Galaxy:**** No worries, that will return lol.**

**Alteris:**** Thanks, although I feel like it was more like a 6… but I'm the writer so my number doesn't matter. Besides modesty prevents a big head.**

**Vandenbz:**** It sounds like a good idea, but it would ruin future plans XD Thank you too. I tried to make it deep but not sappy…**

**HikariNoTenshi-san:**** Think his boss is crazy enough? XD**

**DarkSyde24:**** Well Sakura is to nice to say no to Tomoyo and Naruto simply did it to because he had to wait.**

****_**Everyone else, Thank you for the reviews**_

_**PLEASE READ, ENJOY, AND REVIEW!**_


	6. Pounding hearts, THUNDERing secrets

**Persevere!**

Regular speech  
_Thoughts  
_**Demon speech  
**_**Demon thought  
**_(Author notes)  
I don't own Naruto or Card Captor Sakura

**Question. I've gotten a little bit of this and that so I decided to ask. Would you the readers prefer me to just use English? You know, get rid of things like "Onii-chan" and "Kaiju"? Note even is yes wins I will not change the names of characters to the names, jutsu, things of that nature, to what they were given when translated. **

_Two weeks after ILLUSION:_

_"This dream… I've seen it before…" _Sakura thought as she watched the dream play in her mind. There she stood on a building, looking over at the ever standing tower of Tokyo with Kero floating just above her shoulder.

The dream however seemed to want to play a different message as everything faded into black. The veil of darkness rippled with light before Tomoeda was shown again, only this time, Sakura was no where to be seen. In her place stood a boy wearing ceremonial Chinese clothes and a sword on his back. _"Who is that… That's not me…" _Sakura pondered on the strange who spoke with Kero as the Clow cards rained from the sky. Then without warning he leaped off the building towards the tower. The dream ended there as the veil returned along with the ripples, signaling Sakura to wake up.

_Real world:_

Sakura groaned as she tossed and turned in her bed, grabbing her head in her sleep like she was in pain. Kero, who for some reason was awake early in the morning, flew over to Sakura, "Hey, Sakura… What's wrong?" Getting nothing but more turning from Sakura, he continued to call her name until she finally opened her eyes.

Sakura, the first thing she saw being Kero's face up close, panicked, waving him away as she sat up. Kero hit the mattress rather softly, rolling a couple times before pushing himself up, "Sakura, I was worried about you because you seemed to be having a nightmare…"

"What's with all the noise…?" Naruto asked sleepily as he opened Sakura's closet door, giving off a yawn as he came out of said closet.

"I-I'm sorry! I really am! I just had a weird dream." Sakura answered while holding her hands up defensively for a moment, "I've had it before. A dream of the Tokyo Tower at night, and a boy wearing Chinese clothes was in it this time. The first time I had it was the night before I met you Kero-chan."

Before anyone could say anything more, a knock came from Sakura's door. Kero simply went limp, pretending to be a plush toy. Naruto had a bit more of a problem however. Before Sakura could blink, Naruto dived back into her closet, slid the door shut and from inside the closet was heard, "Henge!" A small bit of smoke plumed out of the cracks of the closet as Sakura's door opened.

Toya was the culprit behind the knock, leaning his head into the room. "Big brother!" Sakura called, a bit surprised by the sudden intrusion.

Toya looked around the room suspiciously while asking, "Weren't you having a nightmare?" Sakura cocked her head as Toya looked towards her closet, spotting the smoke, "I thought I kinda heard your voice and…" He said as he walked over to the closet.

Sakura started to sweat nervously as Toya grabbed the closet door,_ "What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? If I stop him then he'll get suspicious, but if I don't he'll find out about Naruto-kun sleeping in my closet!"_

Sakura didn't think fast enough as Toya pulled the closet door open only to see… Nothing but clothes. Sakura was just as confused as Toya, but wasn't about to ruin a good opportunity, "It was nothing! I just had a strange dream." She said as she picked Kero up off her bed and set him on her bed stand.

"I see…" Toya said as he closed the door to her closet. He walked out, standing just inside her door frame, "So it was just grunts from a kaiju."

"What did you say?" Sakura yelled as she chuckled her pillow at Toya, only to have him dodge by closing the door, "Sheesh!" Kero took a second to relax once the door was shut, only to tense back up when Toya opened the door again. Sakura looked up from her bed still fuming, "What is it?"

"Breakfast is ready, so hurry up and come down." Toya said coolly, clearly enjoying his sibling torture. He paused before leaving, staring at Kero for a second before leaving the room. Kero sweat dropped nervously at this, to scared to relax after Toya's action.

Sakura climbed out of bed once Toya left, walking over to her closet. She pulled it open and stared, waiting for something, or rather someone to appear. After a few seconds she decided to call him, "Naruto-kun?"

Her answer was one of her battle costumes that Tomoyo had asked her to hold onto poofing. When the smoke cleared, there sat Naruto, "Man that was close…"

"So you can turn into anything you want to? For some reason… I expected something else…" Sakura said in a mixed tone of nervousness and exhaustion.

Naruto looked up at Sakura from where he was sitting in her closet as he cracked his neck, "What? You think I'd risk everything to prank you're brother?"

An instant "Yes" from Sakura was his answer, making him face vault out of the closet. Sakura only giggled walking away to open a window. Naruto hopped to his feet and climbed out the window, "I'd better go before my boss goes crazy again... See you at lunch." Naruto said before leaping into the tree, checking the street for anyone, then dropping to the ground and running off down the street.

"Sakura, about your dream…" Kero said as he floated up to her now that Naruto was gone, "You have magic, no matter how large or small the power is. So that dream might be a foretelling dream."

"A foretelling dream?" Sakura asked as she looked over to Kero.

Kero nodded, "In other words, you might end up meeting that guy in the Chinese clothes in the future." Kero said before looking out the window in the direction, "Speaking of dreams, you still need too…"

"I know I need to talk to him…" Sakura interrupted before sighing, "But it's not like I can just randomly ask. Besides he probably has a good reason for not telling." Sakura countered. It was true in her mind; she had no right to suddenly bring up a part of Naruto's life she didn't know anything about. He hadn't done it to her and no doubt had questions about her and this new world he was still trying to figure out. She was still learning about it after all.

"You know the longer you…" Kero started to say, only to be cut off as Sakura walked away.

"The longer I put it off the harder it is to confront him about it. I know Kero-chan, you've been telling me ever since I had that dream two weeks ago." Sakura said as she prepared to change into her uniform.

Kero simply shook his head and crossed his arms, "You know, you're going to develop a bad habit if you don't stop putting things off like this." Kero looked up at Sakura, only to see she hadn't paid him a heed of mind as she pulled her shirt down over her head.

The morning went by as it usually did after that. Breakfast, taunting, and… "Sakura-san! You're going to be late!" Running late. Sakura strapped her skate gear on and rushed out the door, saying good-bye to her father during the process. He smiled as he returned the jester, watching his daughter speed on down the street to catch up to her brother. She grabbed the top of a pole as she reached the cherry blossom walkway, using it to turn without having to slow down.

"There he is!" Sakura said to herself before shouting, "Wait!" Once she managed to catch up to Toya, she bent over panting.

Toya's only comment was, "You eat way too much breakfast."

Sakura gave a rather adorable pout as she cried, "But…"

Toya ignored Sakura as he noticed his closest friend ahead, "Hey, Yuki."

Yukito stood waiting in his usual location. Smiling at the two as they approached, he raised his hand to wave when suddenly…

"OUT OF THE WAY!"

Sakura's and Toya's warning sign should have made them stop. But the two moved into the four-way just in time to see a certain blonde appear out of nowhere inches away from them. Time stopped as everyone held a different look. Yukito was concerned as he started to rush to his friends. Sakura looked shock but could only think, _"Naruto-kun… why now…?"_ Toya just looked annoyed as he saw what was coming next.

Naruto, not being able to stop in time, crashed into the two. Yukito reached for everyone, hoping to catch them only to be pulled into the pile up. "Ow…" Sakura groaned as looked around to see she was laying on Naruto, her brother and his bike on them both with Naruto's leg somehow inside one of the tires and Yukito being the lucky one to be sitting on the bike. "Naruto-kun… what were you doing now….?" She asked as she tried to pick herself up a little bit.

"Running from my boss… He grabbed a hatchet today…" Naruto mumbled as he rubbed his nose, "The new guy thought it would be funny to eat the boss's sandwich. He quit two minutes later." Naruto said before looking around, "You don't see him do you?"

"Can you get off us?" Sakura yelled at Toya, who was taking his time to get up and get Naruto's leg out of his bike, before looking around, "I don't think he followed you this time."

Naruto sighed in relief as Toya managed to get his bike back, "Thank goodness."

Sakura climbed off of Naruto now that she knew Toya and Yukito were off of her, only to turn around in a heartbeat when she heard bike tires rolling. She couldn't help but whine in despair as she watched Toya and Yukito pedal off. Yukito gave the two a wave as they left, "Have fun you two!"

"Yukito-san…" Sakura quietly moaned as she hung her head.

Naruto hopped to his feet and dusted himself off, "Sorry about that Sakura-chan… I was more focused on running then where I was going."

Sakura could only sigh as she slouched in sadness, "It's alright Naruto-kun. I know you didn't mean too…"

Naruto could see Sakura's sadness, though he couldn't understand why. To him it was just a ride with company on the way to school. Then, Naruto's brain lite up the light bulb in his head. Naruto walked up to Sakura and pointed his thumb down the road while asking, "Walk you to school?"

Sakura's mood brightened up at the offer, which Sakura accepted whole heartedly. It may not have been her crush Yukito, but time with Naruto was always fun to her. As the two headed for Sakura's school, the two shared a bit of small talk. Once they reached the school, Naruto decided to head back to his job, waving at Sakura before disappearing from sight. Sakura jumped when Naruto simply disappeared from sight in the middle of the street, only to sigh in relief when she realized no one was around. That is until she heard "You seemed to have had quite the eventful morning today Sakura-chan."

"Hoe…" Was all Sakura said as she turned away from the school gate towards her friend Tomoyo, who was standing near the school statue with her usual smile. The two headed for their class room, where Sakura explained her morning.

Tomoyo cupped her chin with her hand as well as tilted her head, "I see. So you haven't been able to ask him about your dream about him…"

"Kero-chan says I should just ask him out right, but it's not that simple." Sakura replied to Tomoyo as she sat down in her desk chair, "What I saw… It could change my friendship with Naruto-kun…"

"Honestly… It's probably best to simply leave it be." Tomoyo told Sakura as she sat down, "Some people have a past that they don't wish to be brought up. So long as Naruto-kun doesn't give a reason for it to be addressed, then it need not be."

Sakura nodded to Tomoyo's logic. After all it made sense. Not everyone wanted their personal life made into someone else's business. She knew she didn't want her life made public. "Hoe…" Sakura said quietly as she pinched the bridge of her nose. This would need some personal thinking on later.

"I'm starting homeroom." Their teacher said as he walked in, causing everyone to rush to their seats. After checking the attendance of his students, he started to make an announcement, "Today, I'll introduce you to a new transfer student!"

Sakura glanced over to Tomoyo as she propped her head up with her hands listening to Tomoyo say, "It is unusual to have a transfer student this time of year."

Sakura simply nodded a bit, not really interested in the new transfer student. That is until she noticed he was staring at her. Intently. She slowly grew nervous under the stare, only growing more so when he wouldn't blink. Sakura could feel the hairs on her neck start to stand as Tomoyo leaned over and whispered, "Sakura-chan, are you being stared at?"

Sakura nodded as she held her arms up to her chest. The kid simply continued to give his heated stare as the teacher turned around and introduced the new student, "Syaoran Li. He's from Hong Kong. Everyone be nice to him. Now, his seat… The seat behind Kinomoto is empty."

Sakura jumped at the mention of her name as she glanced over to the empty desk. Now this wouldn't have too much of a problem, if Syaoran hadn't stopped right in front of Sakura to stare at her more. This drew the class's attention, everyone watching Syaoran stare at Sakura, and Sakura nervously look between him and her desk. Tomoyo broke the building tension, ushering her hand over to the empty desk, "Your seat is over here. Please…"

Syaoran looked at Tomoyo before sticking his nose up and walking to his desk. Even after sitting down, he continued to stare at Sakura, the heat never leaving his gaze. Sakura could feel that the day was going to be long for her. She didn't however, know it was going to be even longer for Naruto.

_With Naruto:_

When you see a hyper active blonde haired boy simply frozen in place with an opened scroll in his hands, what do you think he's looking at? For everyone in the smith that Naruto worked in, it was seemingly normal behavior. At least the scroll anyway. The freeze up not so much. One of the senior smiths that managed to connect with Naruto walked over, "Hey spike, you alright?" The middle aged man called out as he approached.

Naruto snapped out of his daze, quickly rolling up the scroll, "Yeah just… reading something interesting." Naruto turned to the scrap iron clock, "I'm heading out… I need to take care of something…" Naruto said before heading to the door in a hurry.

Naruto's senior could tell something was seriously off about the boy. He was quiet. Naruto was never quiet, and as the senior looked down, he noticed Naruto didn't finish his work either, "Great… One of the few good workers that stay and he start's having life trouble… I guess I'll cover for him." The senior said as he picked up a hammer off the anvil.

"Leave it." An old sounding voice said from the room entrance, "I'll have him melt it back down and start over." Naruto's boss said as he walked in, "That boy… he has potential. I see many changes coming to this town." The old man said before hobbling off with his cane.

_Back with Sakura:_

"_What could he want? And what is with that board he's holding?"_ Sakura wondered as she nervously stood near the gate separating the elementary and high school. The new kid, Syaoran, stood a few feet away from her with a something in his arms. Seeing as he wasn't speaking, Sakura asked, "Um… What is it?"

Syaoran said nothing to her directly, but instead closed his eyes and held the board flat to show Chinese lettering with a yin-yang in the center, "Imperial king of gods, thy divinity watches over all four corners. Metal, wood, water, fire, earth, thunder, wind lightning." The ring in the center of the board started to spin as more Chinese letters appeared, "Whirling blade of lightning, answer my call!" Two lights on the board focused together before shooting off to Sakura in a beam of light.

Sakura gasped when the beam hit her chest. It didn't hurt, but it was still surprising. The magic of the board seemed to be strong as the wind blew in a strange pattern. Syaoran wasn't concerned with any of this however, only with what he had found out. He jumped away, dispelling whatever magic he was using, "Just as I thought! You have Clow Cards in your possession!" Sakura looked at the new transfer student in shock, opening her mouth to speak only to be cut off by Syaoran, "This compass was created to search for the Clow Cards!" He showed Sakura the face of the compass for only a second before holding out his hand, "Hand them over!"

"I can't! Because I promised Kero-chan… That I would collect all the cards!" Sakura exclaimed, even though she had taken a step back.

"Kero-chan…" Syaoran whispered as he quickly connected the dots, "Kerberos? The Beast of the Seal?" Sakura nodded, causing Syaoran to look between her and the ground, "If Kerberos is around, why is it letting such a child hold onto the Cards?"

Sakura only looked away sadly, "Kero-chan… doesn't have enough magic power to be bigger… That's why…"

Again she was cut off by the arrogant boy in front of her, "The symbol for Kerberos is the Sun. It rules over "fire" and "earth". You don't have either of those cards?" Sakura shook her head as Syaoran looked at her, "How long have you been searching?"

"Since… April." Sakura answer, wishing someone was there to interrupt her hidden little session with Syaoran.

Li's eyes narrowed at that, "You've been searching for two months… And you still haven't gotten them all!"

Sakura slammed onto the fence with an exasperated sigh, "That's right…" Sakura then dawned on a thought that came up, "But why do YOU know about the Clow cards!"

"That's none of your business!" Li then turned toward the two, "I'll look for the rest! Hand them over!"

Sakura stepped further back, putting her hand over her right pocket, "I can't do that! It's something I promised to Kero-chan…"

I get it… it's in that pocket." Li started to walk toward Sakura, getting ready to take the cards by force. However he was only able to take one step before a hand landed on his shoulder.

Syaoran whirled around as his heart jumped at the contact. However the hand never left its place and in fact only tightened as Syaoran met a pair of angry blue eyes, "I'm going to be very clear. There are two things I can't stand. People that try to hurt my friends and people that attack one who can't protect themselves. From what I see, you're doing both. I'm already having a rather bad day. Care to give me a reason to vent?" Naruto asked with a rather sweet smile, hiding just what he was really feeling on the inside.

If the vice grip on his shoulder was any clue, Syaoran knew he wasn't just some street fighter,_ "Who the hell is this guy? I didn't hear or sense a thing!"_ Naruto was keeping him just within arm's reach with his fist clenched. Syaoran could tell that one wrong move and Naruto wouldn't hesitate to raise hell against him.

Syaoran glared at Naruto as he started to move away from Sakura. Naruto caught the sign, not letting go as he matched Syaoran step for step until he was between Syaoran and Sakura. Naruto let go of Syaoran, and Syaoran backed away. Naruto opened his mouth to say something when he heard the chain-link fence rattle. The three looked up to see Toya on the fence. He landed between Naruto and Syaoran, glaring between both of them, "What's going on here?"

"Nothing. He was just leaving." Naruto answered before going back to glaring at Syaoran, "Right?" He asked politely, though the tone in which Naruto asked however showed anything but kindness.

"_Please just leave already!"_ Sakura was silently praying. Her big brother was always good at showing restraint. Naruto however… not so much when he was angry. The many unsolved pranks around the school was proof of that. _"Come to think of it… They're still trying to clean the art room from last week…"_

"Hey!" Someone called from across the fence. Everyone turned again to see Yukito happily running at the fence with a bag in his arms, "They had some!" He shouted as he hoped up half the fence, climbed the rest, and landed next to Toya while not taking any notice to the tense atmosphere, "They had nikuman!"

Sakura sweat dropped at Yukito's sudden arrival while Syaoran looked shocked. Toya and Naruto however, took more interest in the nikuman Yukito was handing out. Whatever remained of the tension was destroyed as Yukito asked Sakura, "Would you like one?"

Sakura accepted it awkwardly as Yukito started counting of the nikuman he had, "one, two, three, four… and five." He finished by pointing at Syaoran before walking up and offering the nikuman. Syaoran's reaction was rather interesting. He blushed while looking horrified before taking off. He tripped over a rock in his desperate escape attempt, face planting in the school garden, which thankfully hadn't started growing. After picking himself back up, Syaoran continued to run, disappearing around the corner.

Naruto had taken the moment to forget his trouble and laugh at Syaoran. Sakura meanwhile had no idea what had just happened, "W-What in the world is he?"

After Toya and Yukito left, Sakura tended to Naruto's previously capped anger. They headed off further away from everyone to make sure no prying ears heard. Sakura was sitting on a blanket she had brought from her backpack. "What's wrong Naruto-kun?"

Naruto simply pulled out a red scroll and tossed it into Sakura's lap, "I honestly don't know how to deal with this…"

"Hoe?" Sakura opened the scroll, reading with intrigue at what could cause Naruto so much trouble.

"_Naruto… what you asked us is difficult to say. But after a careful talk with Tsunade, we decided that you are both safe enough (considering you're in a world we have yet to find a way too) and old enough to know. You are the child of the Yodaime Hokage, Minato Namikaze, and the previous heir of your clan, Kushina Uzumaki. If you're wondering what she was the heir of, you already know. You're carrying it right now. We don't have all the details but we do know that you were the only one the Yodaime could use. We'd say more, but it all deserves to be said in person. When we managed to get you back home, we'll talk. Until then, take care. Sincerely Jiraiya."_

Sakura cocked an eyebrow at the message_, "So… the person Naruto-kun saw from ILLUSION is his father… Then I guess the woman was his mother. So what did they… I mean the Yodaime do to upset Naruto-kun so badly?"_ Sakura hummed as she stared at the note for a minute before looking up at Naruto, "I'm sorry Naruto-kun, but I don't quite understand what's wrong with this letter…"

Naruto scowled a bit before plopping onto the ground, "There's nothing wrong with the letter itself… Just what those old idiots kept from me for so long… I can understand when I was little but they should have told me when I became a genin at least!"

"About your parents?" Sakura asked as she rolled up the scroll.

"Yeah. It's just…" Naruto took a second to think about what to say while looking up at the sky, "So many times I would look up at the night sky and wonder who they were. Why I was alone. Did they die, lose me, or abandon me? So many questions would keep me awake and no one thought to answer them…"

"I'm sorry." Sakura said. Heck it was all she could say. Nothing else came to mind. She had never been in his situation. Her father had told stories of her mother as long as she could remember or whenever she asked. She was had a full book to read whereas the book Naruto wanted to read was blank.

Naruto shook his head for a moment before running his hand through his hair, "No, I'm the one that should be apologizing… Sorry for dumping all of this on you."

Sakura only smiled as she stood up and moved next to Naruto, crouching down since he was sitting in the dirt, "It's fine. Everyone needs someone to talk too. I'm actually glad that you feel comfortable enough to tell me. I know there are a lot of things you can't say, so being able to help you like this is relieving. You're always helping me, so it feels nice to be able to repay some of your kindness."

Naruto managed a chuckle at that, "Sakura-chan, there's nothing to repay. I promised to help you and I always keep my word. If you want to help me with my problems, I'd rather it be for us being friends then a debt."

"Then to us being friends it is." She said cheerfully as she offered her hand which Naruto gladly accepted. The conversation did bring a pressing matter into Sakura's mind however, _"Eventually… Naruto-kun is going to go back to his home. All this time I've been worrying about not messing up with capturing the cards and Naruto-kun helping me… Even today with Li, if Naruto-kun hadn't stepped in, he might have taken the cards. I have to start getting stronger for myself and Naruto-kun. I don't want him to worry once he leaves for home."_ She thought as the two headed off back to the school.

_After school:_

Once the school day had ended, Naruto, Sakura, and Tomoyo were walking home through the park, having separated from Rika earlier. "Have you asked Kero-chan about the new transfer student?"

"No… I tried calling, but he's not answering." Sakura replied with a sigh.

Naruto folded his arms behind his head as he looked at the two, "He's probably taking a nap. You know how he gets once he eats then falls asleep. You might as well try to move a mountain with your hands then wake him up." He said, getting a giggle from the two girls. As they giggled, Naruto took notice of the weather, "Say, it got cloudy rather fast didn't it? Think it will rain soon?"

The universe answered Naruto with a bolt of lightning and a crack of thunder, sending Sakura, Tomoyo, and the various strangers around scattering for cover. Naruto blinked as he looked around at the running people before calmly walking over to the penguin slide where Sakura and Tomoyo were taking cover, "You think people here never seen some lightning."

"Naruto-kun, hurry up!" Sakura shouted from under the king penguin slide.

Naruto only shrug as he leaned onto the slide, "Why? It's not raining."

"It's not?" Sakura asked as she stuck her hand out, only to feel nothing. She soon regretted that as lightning struck a nearby light post. The thunder made Sakura and Tomoyo cover their ears as Naruto turned around to stare at the lightning.

He watched as it bounced from pole to pole, going all the way around the penguin slide. The three watched it do its dance around the slide before slamming onto the ground right in front of a park maintenance worker. Naruto leaped to the workers aid as the worker ran for his life. He tried to block the lightning with a kunai, but kunai are metal, and metal conducts. The worker paid no mind to the boy that made himself a live wire for his sake.

"Naruto-kun!" Sakura shouted as she watched Naruto take a direct blast of lightning as he got between the worker and force of nature. She and Tomoyo climbed out from under the slide and rushed to Naruto's aid as he lay twitching for a moment. They both reached out to help their friend, but the second they touched Naruto, he reacted. His instincts kicked in as he flashbacked to his fight with Sasuke, more specifically, the feeling of Chidori running through his shoulder.

Sakura and Tomoyo didn't know what happened after that. In an instant, they found themselves pinned to the ground with Naruto on top of them with a kunai poised to strike. Both looked at their friend in fear as Naruto breathed heavily before returning to his senses. The second he realized what he was doing, Naruto scurried off of them. The three couldn't believe what had happened. Thankfully no one was around to see it. Naruto looked at the kunai in his hand before throwing it into the park pond in horror of his actions. He attacked Sakura and Tomoyo, two of his close friends who were defenseless against him.

Sakura and Tomoyo held the same look at Naruto as their hearts raced. Both started thinking along two different lines. Tomoyo was trying to figure out what could make Naruto react in such an unusual manner. Sakura however was thinking about how to address what had just happened. It couldn't be ignored, but that didn't mean she knew how to ask why he acted that way.

Naruto decided to save them both the trouble as he said, "I'm… I'm so sorry…"

"No one was hurt, so it's alright. But, if I may ask, what made you react in such a way?" Tomoyo asked as she stood up , dusting herself off before helping Sakura.

Naruto made no move to get up or towards the two girls, sitting silence for a minute. Sakura and Tomoyo looked at each other before Sakura tried to turn the conversation elsewhere, "You don't have too…"

"Sakura-chan, you remember that dream you told me you had? Where you saw my fight with Sasuke-teme?" Sakura nodded, which let Naruto continue, "When I felt that lightning hit me, my mind went back to that fight. That feeling of electricity running through my body. For a minute, I thought I was back at the valley fighting for my life…"

Sakura and Tomoyo looked at Naruto sympathetically. The feeling of combat, of fighting for their life is something they didn't know. To always have that feeling of needing to look over your shoulder for your enemy. "Why don't we head back to my house and forget about what happened? It's no good to dwell on bad memories." Sakura asked giving her cheerful smile in an attempt to lighten Naruto's mood.

It seemed to work as Naruto smiled back as he stood up, "You're right. Besides, we need to ask Kero about that lightning. I haven't seen anything like that even in my world." The girls nodded as all three ran down to Sakura's home, however due to circumstances, Tomoyo had to go home.

_Sakura's home:_

"Kero-chan! Kero-chan! Stop being so dazed and wake up!" Sakura yelled at Kero, who was floating in the air while scratching his stomach while drooling.

After no success, Sakura took a deep breath about to yell when Naruto raised his hand, "Let me try." And with that, Naruto simply slapped Kero into the wall near the bed giving Kero an instant wake up call.

Giving Kero some time to recover and make tea, the three relaxed in Sakura's room as Kero asked, "Li Syaoran?" Kero asked before taking a sip of his tea using a spoon, "He's probably someone from the Li clan, then." Before anyone could ask, Kero started to explain, "My master Clow Reed was born from a British father and a Chinese mother. So, much of Clow's magic is a combination of western and eastern magic. For instance, the magic circles you use have English AND Chinese characters, right?" Sakura nodded while Naruto and Tomoyo sat and listened, "The magic you are using now, Sakura, is the magic that Clow Reed created. Ancient magic that gets handed down over the years is usable by anyone, up to a certain extent, as long as the user takes the right steps and keeps all the promises. However, the only people who can create brand-new magic are just a few sorcerers in this world."

"Clow really was an amazing person." Sakura exclaimed with amazement, getting a nod of agreement from Naruto.

Kero suddenly turned away from the group and started muttering to himself, everyone only catching a few words with the last one being "problems". Everyone looked at Kero confused, who simply brushed it aside, "It's nothing. And the Li clan is from Clow's mother's side of the family."

"So he's a stuck up descendant of your former master." Naruto said before sighing, "Great… Another ass to deal with in my life…"

"The Li Clan was a famous family of sorcerers from China." Kero continued before taking another sip of his tea then setting his spoon back in the cup, "I heard rumors that the Li clan had moved to Hong Kong; I guess it was true."

Sakura panicked for a minute as she pulled out her current cards about to ask something when Naruto chipped in with his cluelessness, "What's China and Hong Kong?"

Sakura and Kero both gave a blank stare before Sakura patted Naruto on the shoulder, "Remind me to tutor you when we have time…"

Kero only rubbed between his eyes while shaking his head, "Anyway… It's a good that you didn't give him the cards." Kero began to glow as he flew over to Sakura's desk. When he landed, the drawer holding the book of Clow opened, allowing Kero to magically levitate the book out, "Sakura, you were the one who opened this book and awakened me. I told you the first time I met you, there was a seal placed on this book and only those with quite a bit of magic can manage to open it." Kero then flew himself and the book over to Sakura with a smile, "So that means that you, Sakura, have the qualifications to use these cards!"

The cards seemed to agree with Kero as they floated up and circled around Sakura. Naruto only sat and watched with a smile as Kero cheered up Sakura. Until he felt something was wrong. Very wrong. He got up and walked over to the window just as Sakura's cell phone went off. Right when Sakura answered, Naruto opened the blinds covering her window, "Sakura-chan…"

Sakura covered the speaker of the phone as answer, "Don't be rude Naruto-kun!" She whispered to him before answering, "Yes, hello?" Naruto only sighed before opening the window and climbing outside.

"_Sakura-chan! The sky… Take a look at the sky!" _Tomoyo suddenly said over the phone.

Sakura turned around to the opened window to see both Naruto's and Tomoyo's concern, "I see it! It's just like a while ago!"

The two watched as the lightning bolt from earlier returned, striking randomly in the center of town. The screams of panicking people caught both their ears before the thunder came. Naruto's nature came to rise in a heartbeat, "Sakura-chan, meet up with Tomoyo then find me! I'm going to take care of the card!" Naruto said as he stepped away from the window for jumping space.

Sakura gasped in surprise before realizing something. The card was around people. People that may see Naruto. "Wait! You can't just go over there! Someone may recognize you!"

Naruto only smirked before making a single hand sign and shouting, "Henge!" In a puff of smoke, Naruto changed from his Tomoyo designer outfit to his tattered orange pants, bandaged covered torso, and an added bit more around his face, "There. It's been a while since the Tomoeda Elementary ghost appeared." Sakura giggled a bit at this before pulling out her key. Naruto looked around to see the lightning bounce around the clouds, "I'll lure it to the school! No one will be there." Sakura nodded, climbing onto the roof next to Naruto.

Naruto then took off into the sky, heading straight for the lightning that was causing the trouble as Sakura flew off to meet Tomoyo. He arrived on a roof in the middle of town just in time to see the lightning bolt from earlier whiz by into a nearby street lamp, over loading the pour pole before moving onto another. It was then Naruto saw a snag in his plan. How do you catch lightning? _"Damn it I didn't think this through… Wait… if this is a card then it should…" _Naruto followed his train of thought by forming a simple Rasengan in his hand, not intending to use it. If he was right then…

The lightning bolt suddenly changed direction from the four-way it was heading for, straight towards Naruto. Naruto smiled when he saw the lightning turn to him, "So it is a card! It's just like what WOOD did!" Naruto cheered before realizing what he did. The lightning… was heading right for him! "TOO CLOSE!" Naruto shouted as he narrowly dodged the bolt before taking off down the rooftops towards the school. By now the card saw him as a magical meal, following him like a moth to a flame.

_With Sakura:_

While Naruto was dealing with the card, Sakura met up with Tomoyo and changed into her newest battle costume. Tomoyo, although disappointed she could give Naruto his, understood his plan. They couldn't have people hurt after all. Sakura looked over the costume she had on as Tomoyo put the other away, "Since it involves lightning today, I made everything out of rubber so that you won't be conducting electricity."

The whole outfit mainly consists of pink and black with 3 yellow bell's attached on the costume. The costume is designed in a rubbery fabric to prevent electrocution and is also designed to be easy to move in. It is made up of a pink skirt, vest and a black bodysuit. The skirt/vest is short, frilly and colorful. The skirt is very cylindrical and remains in the same shape no matter what Sakura does. The top part of the vest joins with the sleeves and the vest looks slightly like that of an apron. Attached to the top part of the vest and part of the body suit, is a bell. The black body suit extends from the top of Sakura's torso to the boots. At the back of the vest, just above the skirt, on Sakura's waist is a pink bow with long tails and a bell attached on each tail. Also attached to the skirt is a slender black cat tail.

Sakura's boots are mid-calf length and the top half of the boot is light pink and the lower part of the boot is black. There are also buttons on the side of the boots. This matches the outfit perfectly. To finish the costume off, Tomoyo has added a headband with cat's ears to match the outfit and also to make it cute.

Kero's only question to the entire outfit was, "Why a cat!" He asked pointing to Sakura's cat ear headband.

"Because it looks cute!" Tomoyo answered as she held up her camera as well as a cape.

Sakura nodded before reading her staff to fly, "Let's go Kero-chan!" She said before taking off into the sky with her guardian behind her. "So what's the plan?" Kero yelled over the howling winds.

"Naruto-kun is luring the card to the school! We're going to meet him there!" Sakura yelled back as she headed for her school.

"And then?" Kero continued, having a feeling he wasn't going to like what he heard.

"No idea!" Sakura told him before she spotted Naruto leading the card to the school, "There they are!"

"That's THUNDER! Geez the first card Naruto decides to take on by himself and it has to be one of the most violent ones!" Kero said while rubbing his head in frustration.

"We need to hurry! He'll beat us to the school!" Sakura yelled before diving to increase her speed.

Meanwhile Naruto was playing tag with THUNDER. The card had lost interest in the Rasengan after Naruto taunted it with its potential meal. THUNDER let out an angry roar as it struck the roof Naruto had just leaped off of. "Note to self, taunting a hungry magical card is not a good idea!" Naruto yelled to himself as he dodged another attack attempt just as he made it over the school roof, landing in the middle of the court yard, panting heavily between the chase and holding a Rasengan for most of it.

THUNDER slammed onto the roof, looking like nothing more than a ball of electricity. Naruto took THUNDER's lack of action to rest, kneeling down as he tried to catch his breath, "Oh man… Running from the card while using Rasengan wore me out… Having no chakra in this world but my own just keeps getting worse and worse…"

THUNDER decided the time to rest, however, was over. It plunged down off the school roof straight at Naruto. Naruto easily leaped out of danger onto the school wall when he heard, "Naruto-kun!" Looking up, he saw Sakura and Kero landing on the school clock tower. He formed his special hand and made some clones before making his way over to Sakura while the clones ran distractions, "So… how do we stop this one?" Naruto asked between pants.

"We have to force him back into his original form before he can be sealed." Kero said before noticing how tired Naruto was, "Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah… Just burned too much chakra leading the card here… I keep forgetting there's no chakra in the environment to help with my jutsu…" Naruto panted before standing up straight again, "So what's its original form…?"

"You two don't even know that?" A voice said from below. The three turned to see Syaoran standing on one of the clock windows. As Sakura jumped in surprise and Naruto simply started calling Syaoran out, he simply raised his sword, holding two fingers on the flat side of the blade facing him, "Thunder god, answer my call!" Syaoran drew his sword back as it gave a slight glow. As THUNDER dealt with the last clone, Syaoran swung his sword at the card, the sword giving off a bolt of yellow lightning.

The lightning from Syaoran balled with THUNDER for only a moment before dispersing. The card roared as it took form, becoming a wolf while the three jumped down from the clock tower to the main building's roof. As THUNDER stood and roared, Syaoran took over Kero's role as informant of the cards, "You catch THUNDER after you change it into its thunder-beast form!"

"Well thanks for the help brat!" Naruto declared as he leaped back down into the court yard as his last clone was destroyed by the enraged card, "Alright shall we get started to stupid cat!" THUNDER roared before lunging at Naruto.

Sakura took a step back as the battle unfolded while pulling out a card. Syaoran didn't bother looking at the card before insulting her, "Moron! You can't fight against THUNDER with WINDY!"

"But then… how can I help…?" Sakura mumbled as looked down at the card, only to look back up as Naruto was swatted into the school wall, leaving a large crack in it. "Naruto-kun!" Sakura called out, causing THUNDER to turn its attention to the three on the roof, letting out another roar before it jumped.

Sakura, Syaoran, and Kero all turned to THUNDER as it landed just down the roof from them all. "Do you have the SHADOW card?" Syaoran asked as he readied himself for the card. Sakura nodded as she pulled out the card.

Syaoran smiled, but only for a second as he was attacked by the already enraged card. Syaoran managed to block the cards bite with his sword, but the card simply lifted him up and threw him aside right off the building. The card knew who it wanted. The threat to it's freedom. Sakura. "Sakura run!" Kero yelled as he rushed to her defense. Only problem with that was, without his power, was rather… weak, since THUNDER simply stepped him.

Sakura backed away in fear from the card. How could she beat something that took down everyone else who had more combat experience and knowledge on the card? THUNDER didn't give Sakura the time to think, letting out a growl as it advanced towards her. Sakura froze in fear. With the short distance between herself and THUNDER, she had no time to use a card and with JUMP having returned to its card form, she had no way of escaping besides risking a jump off of the school.

THUNDER wasn't about to let it's freedom go easily however, as it leaped at Sakura with his claw raised. Sakura backed away more only to find herself against the clock tower wall, _"What do I do? I… I need to get away!"_ Sakura thought before she ran for the edge of the roof as THUNDER's claw came down, destroying a part of the clock wall. She stopped suddenly when she reached the edge, waving her arms in an attempt to stop herself from falling.

THUNDER turned to Sakura and lunged at the girl just as she turned around to face it. Sakura did the only thing that came to mind, close her eyes and hold her staff out defensively. The only she felt however, was something warm splatter on her face. When she opened her eyes, she gasped at what she saw. Naruto being held up in the air on THUNDER's claw as the claws protruded out of his back. That's when Sakura realized what had splattered on her, blood. Naruto's blood.

"Sakura move!" Kero shouted as picked himself up out of the roofing.

"But… Naruto-kun is…" Sakura mumbled, completely frozen by the picture in front of her. She never noticed Naruto's hand twitching as his nails grew at an amazing speed. The air slowly turned cold as a red aura surrounded Naruto as he gave off an animalistic growl.

No one knew what was going on in Naruto's mind however. When THUNDER struck, it caused Naruto to have shell shock. His mind went back to when Sasuke struck his shoulder with Chidori. His anger at his friend trying to kill him, his sorrow seeing his brother try and defect. The feeling during his battle with Sasuke up to the final clash that sent him to Tomoeda. It all flooded his mind. Along with one last feeling, his desire to protect everyone there.

"You bastard!" Naruto bellowed as red chakra flared out of him with explosive force. THUNDER was sent off the roof into the court yard as Sakura fell over the edge, managing to grab the ledge of the roof as Naruto was shrouded by the red chakra. Kero rushed to her aid, helping her get back onto the roof. After Sakura was safely back on the roof, she looked up to see Naruto hidden by the strange chakra.

Yet something was wrong. Everyone could feel it. The malicious in the air as well as Naruto's shadow in the chakra altering. Two triangles appeared on his head as something started to thrash around behind him. Then, without warning, he attacked. The spot where he had landed shattering from the force used to lunge at the beast. THUNDER was shaking its head due to the impact of the fall when it roared in pain as Naruto slammed it into a classroom.

Sakura only sat and watched as Syaoran climbed back up the roof holding his shoulder sorely. He walked over to Sakura and Kero, only to join them in watching the carnage. The glow of THUNDER could be seen being moved from room to room, the building shaking with each room they passed through. "What is he thinking? Does he want everyone to know about us?"

"Something… is wrong." Sakura said as she regained her voice, "Something is very wrong. Naruto-kun isn't acting like himself!"

"It's not just his behavior. His aura itself has changed. It's… almost evil in itself." Kero said as he watched the glow from THUNDER fade with everyone else. Then suddenly THUNDER was blown out of the school roof, flying through the air until it crashed in the courtyard. Naruto and a clone came out of the hole in the roof, a Rasengan in their hands as they charged at the card. Everyone looked away when THUNDER let out a blood curdling roar as it was launched into another part of the school.

It was at that moment everyone got a good look at Naruto. Claws that looked like they could shred metal. Ears not where they should be, furry and resting on top of Naruto's head. A tail wagging wildly like an angry animal. Eyes of a demon with canines that could rend flesh. The kind hearted, unpredictable boy they had come to know, he was not. He was… something beyond words for them all.

However, Syaoran had other concerns when he saw Naruto and his clone preparing for another attack. Acting on instinct, he raised his sword, "Petals of wind, answer my call!" The two Naruto's were blown off their feet from the surprise attack, giving Syaoran enough time to act, "Get SHADOW out and seal them both in it!"

"But…" Sakura as she pulled out the card.

"Your friend has gone mad! We'll just hold him until he comes back to his senses! Now do it!" Syaoran yelled as he grabbed Sakura by the wrist and pulled her to her feet.

Sakura reluctantly nodded and threw the card up, "Use the shades of night to bind and capture my friend and foe! SHADOW!" Sakura hit the card with her wand. Shadows poured from the card onto the ground below, splitting off into two portions. One went for the wounded THUNDER having no effort wrapping around the card. Naruto however put up a bit more of a fight. Even as he was wrapped in shadows he fought, the bubble occasionally bulging in one area but not giving in.

Sakura used JUMP again to easily move to the courtyard. Even though she had to seal the card, her mind focused on Naruto as she started at bubbling shadow ball. "Sakura, seal the card!" Kero yelled from the roof as he held Syaoran back, who was trying to leap down in an attempt to claim the card.

Sakura snapped out of her stupor and turned to the orb holding THUNDER, "Return to the guise you were meant to be in! Clow Card!" The shadows opened up like a flower, allowing THUNDER out just in time to be draw into the magic card that formed on the end of the staff. The remaining shadows moved to Naruto's prison, adding reinforcement, although by now it wasn't needed. The orb was silent. No noise, no movement. It seemed that Naruto had calmed down. With a sigh of relief, Sakura withdrew the card now that the mess was over. But that was furthest away from the truth. The gears were just starting to turn.

_Naruto's Pov:_

What happened? The last thing I can remember was… being stabbed by the card… After that, it's all blurry. Why is it so dark? Am I inside my mind again? Wait… There is light. At first it was blinding, but my eyes soon adjusted to it to see Sakura standing a bit away, "Hey Sakura-chan… What happened?" I asked as I stood up, but the second I did, she backed away. I was about to ask why when I felt it. The same feeling that haunted my nightmares. Something moving behind me. My hearing acute to the point where I could hear the faintest wind. My vision… I had a feeling I knew what had happened, but I had to confirm it. I reached behind me and grabbed it. Then… my nightmare came to life.

_Normal Pov:_

Sakura breathed heavily as her heart raced. Naruto was… something. Now human that was for sure. His ruthless behavior on the card and his current form confirmed it. Syaoran and Kero both looked on in shock at the sight before them.

By this point, Tomoyo had made it to the school and could only gasp at the sight before her, "Oh my…"

Sakura tried to look up at Naruto, but his eyes were still the same. Those blood red eyes that made her bones feel like jello and couldn't let her stop shaking. But she was still able to speak when she saw Naruto step towards her, "DON'T COME ANY CLOSER!" The yell was spontaneous, fearful even. It was Sakura's fear acting on instinct.

Naruto stepped back from the yell, but only looked away. There was nothing to say in his defense, or more like nothing he could say. He didn't know what was going on himself. So he did the next best thing. He turned and ran at incredible speed, leaving behind the school and everyone else.

Once he was gone, Sakura's sense of self made itself know as a single tear leaked out of her eye, "Naruto-kun… I'm sorry… Don't leave…" But it was too late. He was gone, as was any possible explanation as to what happened. It didn't take long for Sakura to make a vow once she returned home. To find Naruto, apologize, and help him in any way she could, as he had done for her many times before.

_**Notes:**_

**Uh… Well I felt the ending may have been a bit rushed, but not as rushed as it first felt. I think it turned out rather how I wanted it. Cliff hang, drama, and a reason to start the next chapter right away.**

**Before you ask, no there will not be a magical repair of the school. It is majorly damaged, so attention will be drawn to it.**

**Oh, I know I'm going to get on how Syaoran was underplayed in this chapter. Well it was met for. This once was focused on Naruto's secret coming out in a way not meant too. The next chapter will be better for Syaoran and everyone else.**

_**Reviewers Response:**_

**Savoxgut: No worries, I got what you were saying. And I must say you are doing better with your English then you give yourself credit for.**

**If I Stay: Yeah I mis-wrote that ^^; I meant she had to save up for a year to make what he would in one check. Thanks for pointing that out.**

**Wolfpackersson09: Hmmm… Possible. You have given me ideas! I shall… not reveal them though XD**

**Raidentensho: Honestly, I didn't mean any reference. I just wanted a crazy western sounding metal smith for humor 83**

**Beserkians fury: It was meant to sew the seeds of doubt, but I took it a little far. Sorry DX**

**Animeguy1101: Okay… I will say this one last time. IT… SERVES… PURPOSE! Last time, I did it because I felt like it. Crappy writing. This time, it has plot, meaning, and who knows, I may even return them to normal at one point. But until that point comes, I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT ANYMORE!**

**Alteris: … curse you auto-check! You fail me again!"**

**Dragonrider347: After. Before you ask what I mean by after even though Naruto enter hanyou state this chapter, wait and see next chapter :P**

**Vandenbz: Thanks for that. I think I fixed them all… If you wouldn't mind reading it again then pming me sentences with errors? I find the beta system doesn't like me…**

**Let Them Eat Cake: Simple. Kyuubi's chakra is unstable at the moment. For more information, read next chapter 8D**

**Darksyde24: It's an anime thing. She made a few appearances in the show and manga when Sakura was in extreme danger.**

**Shinigami-Sensei: Well let me explain. If you see it as I saw it, it may make sense. It's limits are based on the human mind. If Sakura tried to use it while she could think on something she didn't know, things like her thoughts and imagination would interfere, making it something either preposterous or strange. Since it triggered while she was sleeping, her subconscious gave a clear shot of her curiosity without conscious thought to interfere. That's why it was able to show Naruto's secret. As for torturing Syaoran with it… Maybe :3**

_**PLEASE READ AND ENJOY!**_


	7. TIME's running out small AN on both end

**FINALLY! SORRY FOR BEING AWAY FOR SO LONG!**

**I never meant for this chapter to take so long! But between all the crap going on at once in my life, I had little time to write. I won't go into details on what happened, but it's finally lightening up.**

**I'm going to take a small break from Fox and Cards and work on Digital Naruto 02. Not a hiatus break, just to get some of the writer's block to leave since I've been focusing on Fox and Cards so much. Hell juggling two stories at once tends to get rid of my writer's block at times. Anyway, it won't be a long break, one to two chapters at most.**

Regular speech

_Thoughts_

**Demon speech**

_**Demon thought**_

**(Author notes)**

I don't own Naruto or Card Captor Sakura

One month since that fearful, destructive night capturing the THUNDER card. School had only been canceled for a couple weeks due to building repairs while the local police and federal investigators tried to figure out what happened, with no results. Yet it was just another night for Sakura… another late night of flying around in what seemed to be a fruitless search for Naruto. Sakura had broken the city down by sections. Each night she would carefully fly around two or three sections, sometimes even staying out past midnight. Time and again Kero would warn her and try to force her to go back home. But she wouldn't, at least not at first.

Tonight was one of those nights for the young girl. A quarter before twelve and again no sign of Naruto. "Sakura, let's call it a night. You can't afford these late nights anymore since school restarted." Kero yelled over the winds as they flew over another block on the outskirts of town.

Sakura wanted to ignore him as she had two weeks before, but he was right. If her schooling was affected, her family would get suspicious and that was the last thing she needed. Sakura only nodded and turned back to the direction of her house. Kero sighed at her silence. She had been like this since that night. Hardly speaking, forcing a smile around her friends, and pushing herself to find Naruto.

Once the two had landed on the roof of her house, Kero decided it was time to speak up, "Hey Sakura, you really need to stop going out like this. Searching for Naruto is like trying to spot one particular grain of sand on a beach or in a desert. He's a ninja, a master of stealth and secrets. If he doesn't want to be found, then I doubt he will…"

"I have to find him!" Sakura said harshly as she gripped her staff tighter, "What I said… The way he looked that second before he ran away… He needs to know I'm here to help him! He's got no one else to help now…"

Kero only shook his head, "I understand that, but you're not going to find someone who doesn't want to be found, especially when he barely exists in society to begin with! Give him time. He'll come around when he's ready."

"… Maybe you're right. But that's what makes me worry. The wait." Sakura said quietly as she returned her staff to its key state before opening her window.

Kero chuckled a bit at this as he flew in, "Believe me, the wait makes everyone worry." Sakura followed him in, the long night taking its toll on the two.

Unbeknownst to the two, a pair of blue eyes watched from the shadows. There they stayed, and there they faded back into the darkness.

_Morning:_

The morning was just starting to break the city horizon, just as Sakura had hoped. It meant she had plenty of time to get to where she was planning to go. The last thing she could do in her hunt for her friend. She looked down at the folded letter in her hand, then the building sign, "Old man metal working".

"This is the place…" She whispered as she looked around at the building, _"I just hope someone is here… It looks closed."_ Sakura thought as she saw the sheet metal in place of windows. She raised her fist to knock when the door suddenly opened. An elderly man stood there with a kind smile. However Sakura knew this man all too well. It was Naruto's boss, _"Uh oh… Please, in the name of all that is good, please don't be crazy today!"_

Sakura's nervous sweat was for not as the elderly man asked, "Can I help you?"

"Um… Yes… You see…" Sakura stuttered before taking a breath then giving a respectful bow, "I'm looking for Naruto-kun."

"I see. Well he hasn't come in yet." Naruto's boss said as he stroked his beard.

Sakura sighed in disappointment, "So I was right. If you get the chance, can you passed this note onto him? It's important."

The elderly man simply continued to smile as he took the note, "I'll make sure he gets it." Sakura smiled and bowed again to shop owner in thanks before heading off to school. Naruto's boss watched as she skated down the road before heading back into the shop.

Sakura made it to school with time to spare where Tomoyo and Kero were waiting for her. With a quarter of the school sectioned off from Naruto's damage, they didn't have to worry about people showing up early, making it a prime opprotuniy to meet. "Any luck?" Tomoyo asked as Sakura skid to a stop in front of her and Kero.

"No. It's like Kero-chan said last night. I'm not going to find him if he doesn't want to be found. So I left a note with his boss. I figure Naruto-kun would go there while we're at school." Sakura answered as she sat down and started undoing her skates, "I just hope he comes back…"

"I'm sorry… But I feel I must say that if Naruto-san doesn't explain the reason behind his actions… Then I won't be able to accept him back." Tomoyo spoke out suddenly, getting a gasp from Sakura as she continued, "I know I said that one's past shouldn't be brought up if it didn't need to be addressed. Unfortunately, this does. He destroyed parts of the school, clearly attacked in rage, and who knows what could have happened if he had turned on us…"

"Don't say that! Naruto-kun wouldn't…" Sakura started to argue only to be cut off by Kero.

"She's right Sakura. I spent a lot of time in the book of Clow. When I was awake I watched the world as the book and I were passed from one hand to another. I've seen people lose their mind and attack the people closest to them. If he won't tell us what's wrong with him, then I won't accept him back either." Kero said with a firm stance on his beliefs.

Sakura could understand why her friends were acting this way. They were concerned. But they were all Naruto had to turn to at all in this world. "At least hear him out if he doesn't tell us…" Sakura told them as she stood up, "We're all he can tell. He has no way home yet and for all we know he could be just as confused as we are."

"You may be right… I suppose we'll just have to see what becomes of the situation if and when he arrives." Tomoyo said as she pressed a finger against her cheek, "But we should worry more about this later. With all the events that have happened, we don't need to start drawing attention."

Sakura and Kero nodded. The last thing they needed was people suspecting them, even though most passed it off as wraith of the elementary ghost. Lucky for them.

Hours later, Naruto's boss walked by every employee and work station, getting nervous glances from most of his workers and a respectful bow or nod from the remaining fraction. The old man simply continued to hobble until he reached the blade smithing section in the back of the building. There he found what he was looking for.

Our residential favorite blonde, pounding away on metal along with his senior. He had been tasked with making knife blades until he got over what his boss called, "Emotional spit tank". The fact Naruto had bags under his eyes and a lack of his normal energy showed he was dealing with turmoil. The old man tapped the senior worker and gave a nod to the door, silently telling him to leave them for a moment.

The man obeyed and walked out of the room, leaving Naruto and his boss alone. Naruto simply continued to work, hammering the small piece of metal. That is until his boss blocked the hammer effortlessly with his cane, "You know you can't keep hiding from her. She's clearly worried about you."

Naruto sighed as he set the hammer down, "I'm not hiding… I still watch her. I know she's worried, but I…"

"No excuses!" Naruto's boss shouted as he swatted Naruto's head with his cane, "You're too stubborn to be sitting here sulking! Now read this letter before I get my cattle prod again!" The old man yelled as he shoved the letter into Naruto's hand while giving him the crazy stink eye.

Naruto may have been depressed over the resent events, but not stupid when it came to dealing with his boss. He took the letter and walked over to the business break room. Taking a seat in the corner, he unfolded the letter, _"Naruto-kun… Honestly, I don't know what to say about what went on with the THUNDER card. I have no idea what happened or why you behaved the way you did. But I feel that you had a reason. Whether or not it was on purpose, there was a reason behind it. You've been too nice to me and everyone else we know for it all to be some kind of lie. Which is why I want to tell you this. You can come and tell me anything. I won't judge you. You've helped me so many times, even when you weren't around. While you were gone, three different cards caused trouble. I had to stand on my own and couldn't look to you to stop the card for me. It made me see that I leaned onto you when I should have been your partner and stood next to you. This only made me look for you more. I'd write what else I want to say, but… It has to be said in person. I'll understand if you don't show up, but I hope to see you at home again. It's become your home too. Even if it's temporary and a secret, it's still your home. Sakura."_

Naruto only crumpled the letter as he clenched his fist, "I'm an idiot…"

Unknown to Naruto, his oh so caring boss was standing right behind him. Having read the letter over Naruto's shoulder, he reacted in a way that only he could. He lifted his red hot cattle prod and branded Naruto right in the rear through the gap between the back and bottom of the chair. Naruto shot to the roof with a scream as his protective work pants smoked. When he landed, he met this bosses yelling, "Well what are you doing here? Get going before I have to get my katana of the wall!" Needless to say Naruto took off running after that sentence with his boss hot on his heels. Naruto busted the door to the shop open as he ran out. His boss stopped at the door waving the prod, "And don't come back until she's following in tow!"

Naruto ran off to the Tomoeda elementary as fast as he could, if only out of fear of his boss. Lucky for him, no one saw the speeding blonde running through the streets. Or if someone did, they could only wonder what sped by as they picked themselves up off the ground.

When Naruto made it to the school gate, he was surprised by the lack of activity. Yeah a part of the school was still being repaired, but that didn't explain the absence of people. That is until he heard roaring applause come from the auditorium. _"So that's where everyone went. Wonder what's going on."_

Naruto snuck his way into the building easily, walking over to the stage curtain. He open the curtain to see peek on the crowd. He saw Sakura's father talking with Syaoran, which made Naruto scowl, and Yamazaki, who always lied. While he didn't hear what Fujitaka was talking about with the two kids, but that didn't matter as both Sakura and her father left the building. Naruto was about to leave the building and follow, but he couldn't pass up a good prank. Taking a long rope laying near the back of the stage, he jumped up to the raptors and tied one end to a sandbag. He then made a lasso out of the other end and moved the top part of the curtain open. Pulling out his last kunai, he put it in his mouth before swinging the lasso. He watched his target, waiting for an opening. When he saw it, he took it.

Syaoran had no idea what happened… He stretched, and the next thing he knew his hands were tied together and he was hanging above the stage. He was currently waiting on the school janitor to come with the big ladder as a few teachers stayed with him. _"Why do I get the feeling that monster is responsible for this?"_ Syaoran thought as he ignored the teachers "support" talk.

Naruto smiled as he hummed a happy tune with his work. Besides giving him a laugh, if anything, it gave him more time to talk with Sakura. He managed to find her and her father near the school entrance. Naruto simple sat and waited for the two to finish their conversation when the first warning bell rang. At first Naruto scowled, knowing he'd have to wait longer to talk with Sakura. But that wasn't the case as he suddenly heard, "Thank you for waiting Naruto-kun."

Naruto jumped a bit as he turned to see Sakura standing over him, "How did you…?"

"I overheard some classmates talking about Li-kun being strung up above the stage. It didn't take that long to put the dots together." Sakura said with a giggle before she offered her hand to Naruto, "I still have ten minutes before recess is over. Take a walk?"

After accepting Sakura's offer, the two walked in silence. No words were spoken between the two, but it was comforting just to be near each other again. Sakura in knowing she still had a close friend and Naruto knowing he hadn't gone back to being alone. After a walk around the school, the recess bell rang again, signaling its end. Sakura moaned a bit at the bell, "Ten minutes already?"

"Breaks are always theme shorter than they are." Naruto told her as he turned towards the tree behind the school, "I'll see you here after school?"

Sakura smiled at the fact that Naruto said he would still be there, "Yeah. Tomoyo-chan and Kero-chan will be here too if that's okay…"

"It's fine. Besides it saves us all the trouble of talking separately." Naruto said before waving at Sakura, "See ya." That was all he said before he disappeared into the trees. Sakura couldn't keep herself from humming a happy tune for the rest of the day.

"So what do we do?" Tomoyo asked as she, Sakura, and Kero walked around the corner of the school towards their usual meeting spot.

"We listen and judge." Kero answered as he rested on Sakura's shoulder, "We decide from there."

Sakura only hoped Naruto had reason for his actions. As soon they reached the tree, Naruto dropped from the branches. He took a look at the three before sighing, "I took the past few hours to think about how to tell you what happened… Truth is, I couldn't think of anything. I can't lie to you all. Not after everything you've done for me. So I'll start with this. Do you know what jinchuriki means?"

Sakura and Kero looked to each other confused as Tomoyo grabbed her chin thoughtfully, "If I remember correctly… Power of Human Sacrifice is the literal definition."

Naruto chuckled a bit before continuing, "Not surprising someone as well read as Tomoyo would know. You're right. But in my world, it's not just a word, but a title. I'm a Jinchuriki, a person with one of the nine bijuu sealed away inside of them."

"Sealed?" Sakura was the first to ask.

Tomoyo followed with, "Nine bijuu?"

Kero blinked a few times before sighing, "Okay start making sense blonde before my brain starts smoking."

Naruto scratched his head for a minute before looking up at the sky, "Okay, okay I'll start from the beginning. Before the way of the shinobi was made, we were average people like Tomoyo. Only more like what your history book describes with a few things from this world. Then one day, he appeared. The sage of six paths. He was the one that taught my world the ways of chakra and gave rise to the way of the shinobi. It was because of him that the bijuu could be stopped." Naruto paused for a second to take a deep breath before continuing, "The bijuu are nine beasts of terrible power, being made up of nothing but chakra, at least from what I've been taught. The strongest, Kyuubi, attacked my village twelve years ago… It killed so many people…"

The two girls gasped while Kero crossed his arms, "And this has to do with you how…?"

"Keep your wings on I'm getting to it." Naruto said as he grabbed a nearby acorn and pegged Kero with it to keep him quiet, "The Kyuubi couldn't be killed."

"But… It was stopped right? Otherwise your people couldn't continue to survive like that." Tomoyo stated as she tilted her head slightly.

"Stopped yes… But the way to stop it was… costly." Naruto said as he sat down against the tree, "In order to stop the Kyuubi, the Yodaime, my father, had to seal it away inside something. But no object in proven history could hold the Kyuubi. They needed something that was adaptable, that could handle that intense power and not be destroyed by it."

"A human." Kero said, answering Naruto's unasked riddle.

"Yeah, but not just any human. A newborn." Naruto said with an almost sarcastic smile, "It's so ironic, I always wondered why I was chosen to have to carry that monster, and the man I idolized is not only the one who put it in me, but is my father too..."

"… He put it inside you…" Sakura whispered as she realized what her vision from ILLUSION meant. Naruto wasn't the monster himself. He carried it. He was like a portable prison, only never able to shed his burden.

"Yeah, me. The Yodaime died from the fight from I was told. No one was alive near him to give details." Naruto explained as he looked at his palm, "I found out about Kyuubi from a traitor, then felt its power myself when I thought my closest friend died. But… what happened with THUNDER… I don't know. It never did that before. The closest to it was the red cloak when my head was basically cracked open like an egg."

"Wait… so you carry a demon and can use its power? Why didn't you just tell us this earlier! We could have helped!" Kero yelled as he got in Naruto's face.

"How? Not even my dad, one of the strongest shinobi in our history, could kill it. No one in my world has. I can't expect you to know how to handle it when you didn't even know chakra existed." Naruto said surprisingly calm looked back to Kero, "Honestly the only perk with having Kyuubi inside me is that it won't let me die because if I do so does it. Not that the villagers know this… Of course that didn't stop them from trying either…" Naruto said sadly as memories of "dodge the mob" flashed in his head.

"So… your own village tried too…?" Sakura asked, but couldn't force out the last two words.

Naruto only shrugged, "Not that surprising. If you think about how many lost loved ones to the Kyuubi, it's only natural that they look to something to blame when it's not dead. I was just the glass between them… Well more like a steel door. I wasn't about to let them beat me again after the first one."

The three gasped at hearing that a village would willingly attack a kid. Then Kero raised an interesting question, "Wait… what happened to claws, tail, and ears? Where did those go?"

"I… don't know honestly. I just woke up the next day and they were gone. The only time something like that happened was, as Sakura-chan knows, during my fight with Sasuke. But it didn't give me those last time, more like made a shroud of a fox." Naruto folded his arms behind his head as he looked up at the school clock, "I've been meaning to ask Ero-sennin about this but didn't know how to describe what happened. The only other person that could tell me would be Kyuubi, and it's rather quiet since I came here."

"You… talk with it?" Kero asked a bit surprised.

Naruto only shrugged again, "Well, more like argue about it paying rent. But ever since I came to this world, Kyuubi's been quiet…" Sensing there was nothing left to tell, Sakura, Tomoyo, and Kero huddled together whispering to themselves. This only made Naruto nervous, but he sat and awaited his judgment.

"We can't hold what happened against him! He didn't lie or try to hide anything!" Sakura whispered first, looking mainly at Kero.

Kero shook his head a bit, "But he didn't tell us sooner either."

"We can't blame him for that. I doubt it was easy to tell us even now." Tomoyo rebutted as she looked over to Naruto, "He looks like he hasn't slept well in days, if at all. He was worrying about this just as much as we were."

"That still doesn't…" Kero started to say only to trail off as Sakura moved away from the group.

She walked over to Naruto, who waited nervously for a verdict, and offered her hand to him with a smile, "You're coming home with me, eating a warm meal that isn't from a cup, and getting a good day's sleep. No buts."

Naruto was surprised by the offer, or rather order. That didn't stop him from smiling back however as he took her hand, "Thank you Sakura-chan… You…"

"You don't have to say it Naruto-kun. You have enough to handle." Sakura added as Tomoyo walked up with the same smile, nodding in agreement.

Kero was reluctant as he continued to hover away from the three before shrugging, "Why not. Someone has to keep you out of trouble."

To say Naruto went from surprise to shock would be an understatement. _"They… They accept me… What I am!" _Then it was Sakura's, Tomoyo's, and Kero's turn to be surprised as they were all picked up in a Naruto bear hug, who proceeded to jump for joy. Their hyperactive blonde was back.

After Naruto had settled down, the group left the school. As they left, Naruto couldn't help but wonder, "Hey, what did you tell everyone who asked where I was?"

Sakura tensed up a bit before laughing nervously, "About that… Well… Seeing as we told people you were living with your mother and…"

"You told them she passed away didn't you…?" Naruto asked with an accusing stare as they walked out of the school yard.

"Well what else could I tell them?" Sakura replied, waving her arms as everyone else laughed.

"What is Sakura doing up so late? It's time for good little kids to be asleep!" Kero asked as he and Naruto played a game together.

"She's making a snack for Yukito and Toya. Plus she probably told them she ran into me today. Take that!" Naruto shouted as he watched his character use a special move to defeat Kero's character.

Kero stared at the game gob smacked for a moment before asking, "What… How did you do that?"

"I don't know. I was just hitting buttons." Naruto answered before setting the game controller down, leaving Kero to sulk about being beaten by a newbie. Naruto quietly opened the window and leaned on part of the window seal just as Sakura walked back into her room. She saw Naruto enjoying a breeze and decided to join him, taking the other side of the window, "This feels nice."

"Yeah. It's the only good part of sleeping outside." Naruto said as he watched the night sky.

Sakura followed his gaze up to the blinking night lights. A moment of silence later Sakura suddenly said, "I'm sorry." Naruto raised an eyebrow at Sakura, who only smiled, "For what I said that day and how I acted. Even if I was scared, I should have had more faith in you."

"It's okay. I was scared too. I thought my nightmare was coming to life and that I would start destroying everything I cared about… I was so relieved when I woke up the next day to find the tail and ears gone." Naruto admitted before he smiled, "By the way thanks for sneaking the food up here."

"No problem. I didn't think you wanted to see big brother after missing for a month." Sakura replied with her own smile before getting a slightly puzzled look, "Come to think of it… He was curious about what happened to you."

"Really? I thought he would have been glad I was gone considering how he glares at me." Naruto said being genuinely surprised. However Sakura's and Naruto's conversation was cut short by the cry of Kero.

"It's almost ten o'clock! Time for bed." He said as he flew over to the light switch.

"Kero-chan is a little cranky tonight…" Sakura whispered to Naruto as she moved to close the window.

Naruto only chuckled, "He's just mad that I beat him at that game thing he always plays by just hitting buttons."

Sakura giggled at Kero's misery along with Naruto. At least until Kero flipped off the lights on the two as they tried to reach their respective beds. Needless to say, trips and silent curses rang shortly afterward.

The sound of soft breathing and the ticking of filled the room through the night. Until the ringing of the Tomoeda Elementary School bell echoed across the night sky. Without a doubt many people jolted awake, Sakura being one of them as she quickly sat up. Kero, although he didn't wake up nearly as quickly as Sakura seeing as one of his ears drooped, "What's up this late at night? What bell is that?"

Sakura got up and moved to her window to look at her school clock tower. A door then opened in the hallway before she heard her brother speaking, "Isn't that the bell at Sakura's school?"

"It sure carries well." Toya's study night roommate Yukito amazed.

Toya didn't seem to care for the carrying of the bell's tone near as much as the time, "But would it normally ring at a time like this?"

"I thought that bell only rang around five p.m." Yukito answered.

The conversation stopped there as Kero, who was finally awake enough to move, flew up to Sakura, "Is that thing screwed up?"

"But it never broke before." Sakura replied just before her closet door slid open.

A very sleepy Naruto stumbled out of said closet only mumbling, "Must… destroy… clock."

Sakura found it funny at first, until she heard Naruto pull out a kunai while running into the wall next to her window. She quickly grabbed Naruto by the shoulders and pushed him back to the closet while taking the kunai away, "Go back to bed Naruto-kun." She whispered to him as she shut the door. Sakura walked back to the window, stopping near her desk to open a drawer and drop it onto a small pile of kunai and shuriken she had confiscated from Naruto at various points in their adventure.

The clock ticked away to the next minute, going silent at twelve-o-one. Sakura and Kero stared at the clock for a bit longer before Sakura shrugged, "Maybe it did break. Naruto-kun did destroy parts of the school a month ago. Something might have gave way." She said before yawning and crawling back into bed.

Kero yawned as he put his newest game into the system, "I couldn't sleep much after that last night…"

"I'm going to be late!" Sakura yelled as she pulled down around her head. Naruto, with his hitai-ate down around his eyes, blindly felt around Sakura's desk for her various books and items needed for school. "Oh! I have a recorder test today!" Sakura said as she snatched her hat off of her reading lamp. Naruto nodded, sticking Sakura's recorder into her bag before it too was snatched out of his hands.

"Make sure to study hard!" Kero yelled a bit after Sakura had shut her door.

Naruto lifted his hitai-ate giving Kero a curious stare, "You do know she was long gone by the time you said that right?"

"What makes you think she can move that fast?" Kero asked as he started his game up.

Naruto rolled Sakura's desk chair to the window and looked down at the dust cloud leading away from the house, "Physics being defied, according those weird books the school has Sakura-chan read." Silence filled the room besides the sound of Kero's game. A few minutes later Naruto hopped out of the chair, "Well I'm bored. I'm off to cause chaos at the school." He said as he opened the window

"Bring me some snacks!" Kero yelled as the window shut, leaving Kero alone to play his game.

_A couple hours later:_

"Okay, rigged the art room with paint bombs, stole all the uniforms for the guys' side of gym class and dropped them around the school pond, and unscrewed half of the cafeteria tables and chairs in a random order. That takes care of the chaotic part of my day. Guess I'll go see how Sakura-chan's recorder test is going." Naruto said quietly as he tucked away his prank checklist. Seeing as Sakura's music class was on the back side of the school, Naruto didn't need being spotted as he walked down the side of the wall.

Naruto made it to the edge of the classroom window just as Sakura was called. He peaked through the corner of the window as Sakura shot out of her chair, "Okay!" Sakura started walking to the front of the class stiff as a board. Naruto couldn't help but snicker quietly as Tomoyo called out to Sakura quietly and gestured to loosen up.

Naruto smiled as an idea watched in his head, _"Why not. She'll find out about everything else I did today eventually."_ Naruto then simply crept away from his seat on the wall unnoticed.

Sakura; completely unsuspecting of Naruto's oncoming wrath along with the rest of the class, gingerly moved her fingers up and down her recorder as she followed along with her teacher's piano melody. Tomoyo held her hands together as she hoped for Sakura's success on the high D note, _"It's the next measure…"_

Everyone watched as Sakura came to the high D, but instead of the note, they only heard the recorder squeak. Sakura froze as a nervous bead of sweat rolled down the side of her head. Tomoyo sighed in dismay as the teacher smiled. The class only stared, at least for a second before hysterical laughter filled the hallway. Sakura hung her head at this, already knowing what was happening on top of her embarrassment with her performance. Meanwhile, the entire class except Sakura, Tomoyo, and Syaoran flocked to the window to try and catch a glimpse of the "school ghost". No one seemed to notice Syaoran trying to get more practice in on his recorder.

Even with Naruto's chaos running ramped across the school, class continued on. While the school's faculty tried to do damage control on Naruto's latest attack, Sakura's class was dismissed to gym. Sakura wasn't taking her mistake well, seeing as she was holding her baton like a recorder while crying, "I made such a weird noise…"

"You did very well on all the other parts. Plus Naruto-san's disturbance made it where no one took notice of your mistake for very long." Tomoyo said in an attempt to cheer up her friend.

Sakura smiled a bit at that, "It's because you told me to relax, Tomoyo-chan. But Naruto-kun… What was he thinking? I honestly think he's trying to get caught sometimes…" Sakura complained as she set down her baton.

Tomoyo only smiled before noticing said person approaching, "Oh Naruto-san! We were just talking about your earlier escapade." Sakura whipped around with a glare as Naruto walked up chuckling nervously.

"I take it I'm busted?" Naruto asked with a sheepish smile.

Sakura's glare lightened up to an accusing stare, "I don't know. Who else can get away with tying up three teachers to the school statue?"

Naruto laughed while he took a seat next to Sakura, "Well seeing how nervous you were during the test I thought I should get everyone's attention. In my own way of course. Oh, avoid the art room and the lunch room."

"Do we want to know what you did?" Sakura asked as she pinched the bridge of her nose. Things were back to normal alright.

"Nope. Although I'm surprised you didn't hear the last class in gym go into a panic." Naruto said with a proud grin and his arms folded behind his head.

"Let's change the topic before someone overhears." Tomoyo quickly and quietly said with her usual smile.

Naruto continued to smile until a sound on the wind caught his ears, "Do you hear a recorder?"

Sakura and Tomoyo both looked up along with Naruto to see Syaoran walking in their direction playing the score from class with his instrument. "Li-kun is still practicing although the test is over." Sakura commented first.

"Could it be because he didn't do well today?" Tomoyo asked in response to Sakura.

Naruto shrugged, "Well you shouldn't stop practicing even if you fail the test. You'll never get better at anything if you think like that."

"But it's dangerous for him to practice while walking." Tomoyo inputted.

"Let him run into a wall. It'll teach him a lesson." Naruto said without a care as he simply dropped the subject.

Sakura looked at Syaoran for a second before suddenly asking, "Hey, did Li-kun move from Hong Kong all by himself?"

"Speaking of which, I haven't heard anything about his family…" Tomoyo answered as she and Sakura both turned to Naruto

Naruto only blinked when they stared at him, "What? I haven't bothered spying on him. I've had my own issues to worry about for the past month."

"LOOK OUT!" Someone shouted from the soccer game that was going on near the three. All three looked up to see a soccer ball heading straight for Syaoran. Syaoran's response was a jumping up and kicking the ball straight into the goal right past the goalie, who didn't realize what happened till a second later. Everyone who watched Syaoran's kick gave him credit where credit was due, cheering with applauses. Syaoran simply rub the top of his head with his recorder.

Naruto scoffed a bit as he looked away unimpressed, "It was alright…"

Sakura giggled a bit at Naruto's annoyance with Syaoran, "You really don't like Li-kun do you Naruto-kun?"

"It's mostly how he treated you over the past month." Naruto answered as he glared at Syaoran, "He treats you like you're stupid just because you don't have that much experience. I can't stand people like that."

Sakura's mod deflated upon the memories of Syaoran's treatment towards her only to forget about it when she realized Naruto knew of Syaoran's behavior, "Wait… how did you know about everything Li-kun did?"

Naruto realized he had caught himself unintentionally, so he could only explain, "Well… I came back to town a few days after my problem had gone away, but… I was afraid of how you four would treat me that I stayed out of sight. I guess you could say I decided to be a ninja. Watching from the shadows and would only show myself if I really needed to. But you always had a handle on things, so I wasn't needed."

Sakura and Tomoyo couldn't help but smile when they learned that Naruto continued to watch over them despite what happened. The smile didn't last long though, seeing as an explosion was heard just as the art room windows became covered in paint with the teacher screaming, "My art! My precious art! It's all ruined!"

Naruto snickered as everyone turned to the art room, "Time for me to leave. See you at home Sakura-chan." Naruto walked off humming a happy tune while Sakura and Tomoyo looked at each other with a nervous smile. That was going to require a lot of cleaning.

Naruto stared off in boredom as he blew on a feather he pulled out of Sakura's pillow. Kero was hogging the television with his game since he didn't want to play with Naruto again. Sakura was having a special dinner with her family over her and Toya's exams, so he and Kero weren't invited. Of course Naruto didn't want to deal with Sakura's family yet over his mother's "sudden" death. So all he could do was pass the time in boredom.

"Why don't you read one of Sakura's books?" Kero asked, as if he could sense the Naruto's boredom.

"Textbooks are just as boring as doing nothing." Naruto replied, scoffing at the idea of learning what he considered pointless information.

"Go train." Kero shot back all the while still playing his game.

"I can't since the police up their patrols around town after my attack on the school today. I noticed on the way back here." Naruto said as he sat up, letting the feather fall where his head was laying earlier.

"Then why don't…" Kero started to say just Sakura's door opened and Sakura walked in with a tray full of food.

Kero completely forgot about his sentence as he smelt the food, "FOOD!" Sakura smiled as she set the tray down on the floor, "Sorry for making you wait. Father was doing a project for college so I helped him to get it done quicker."

"No worries. The food still got here!" Naruto exclaimed as he sat down in front of the tray with a happy grin.

Sakura smiled softly as she watched Kero and Naruto started to dig into the food, "I'm going to practice my recorder some more, so please don't eat too loudly tonight." Sakura asked, only to get a nod from the two as they continued to eat in their usual way.

A few minutes later, Sakura was playing away on her recorder, completely focused on her task of perfecting the score for her class. What she didn't notice was that Naruto had slowed his eating pace. He was watching Sakura intently as she played the softly melody. Sakura didn't have a clue of Naruto's watching even after she successfully finished the score. Sakura clenched her recorder tightly as she yelled in pure joy, "I did it!"

Sakura was answered by the soft clapping of Naruto, "Nice job Sakura-chan."

"Thank you Naruto-kun. Glad to know someone was listening." Sakura joked, glancing towards Kero who was still entranced by his game.

"I like listening to music, but never got much of a chance too. I didn't know anyone willing to play music for me. The only time I could was when traveling musicians stopped in Konoha, and they tended to shoo me away after hanging around their performances for too long since I didn't have money." Naruto said with both understanding and a shrug.

Sakura frowned for a second and then smiled again, "Well then that just won't do! You tell me whenever you want to listen to some music and I take care of it!" Sakura proclaimed proudly with a hearty pat to her own chest.

Naruto smiled back and nodded, "Alright it's a deal. Now you should get to bed. You still have more exams to do."

"I know…" Sakura muttered, instantly becoming depressed as she climbed into the bed. Kero saved his game and turned it off as Naruto hit the light switch to the room. He silently made his way to his bed inside Sakura's closet and before he could close the door he heard, "Good night…"

"Good night." He whispered before sliding the door all the way shut. The night ticked away as the three slept peacefully, until midnight stuck.

Naruto was having a peaceful dream, not suffering from his plague of nightmares. Then… everything went to hell. His dream shattered like a window when a rock goes through it and his body burned as red chakra rushed into his network. Alas that wasn't the end of Naruto's pain. His head felt like it was trying to be split open as images flashed into his mind. _"Wha… What's happening…?" _Naruto thought as he tried to make sense of the visions, _"Why am I seeing this…? Fire… a snake… and a razed land. People… screaming and…" _The last vision confused and worried him the most, _"A girl… laying in a pool of blood… wearing an elementary school uniform… But… "_ The vision was vague, but he could make out enough to tell it wasn't Sakura.

Then, just like that, it was over. Naruto gasped as the visions and the pain fled his mind. The floor was lightly scorched from Kyuubi's chakra, but that escaped Naruto's notice, _"What on earth was that? I thought I was going to die for a minute… I guess I can't push it off any longer. Time for a talk with the fuzz-ball."_ Naruto took a second more to breathe before assuming a meditative position.

It only took a minute for him to feel himself leave the world and appear in front of the large gate. Naruto stood up in the ankle deep water of his mind and took in his surroundings, _"Something's… wrong." _He thought as his eyes stopped on the seal. The paper of the seal was burned on the edges and the gate cracked in many places, but still holding surprisingly.

This made Naruto worry. It was clear that the seal was weakening, which explained his transformation a month ago, but it still managed to hold most of Kyuubi back. _"It isn't breaking… yet. I'll have to tell Ero-sennin, but first."_ "Hey Kyuubi!" Naruto yelled as he walked up to the gate, "Get out here and tell me…" Naruto started to say only to be blown back by the force of Kyuubi slamming into the seal. Kyuubi growled and snarled savagely as it tried to tear through the seal.

Naruto groaned as he picked himself back up and only chuckled, "Give up Kyuubi. We both know you can't get out." Naruto said with a smirk. Only the smirk quickly faded as Naruto watched Kyuubi thrash around behind the seal. It wasn't acting like it normally did. Kyuubi would slam the seal on occasion when Naruto visited but no more than once. Now Naruto only watched as Kyuubi repeatedly slammed its head into the gate of the seal.

"Kyuubi?" Naruto asked as he watched Kyuubi nervously. Kyuubi continued to ignore Naruto's call, thrashing until it ran out of breath, which it then proceeded to simply turn around and go to the back of the seal again.

Naruto couldn't believe it. Kyuubi turned feral. No insults, no threats, and no attempts to entice him with power for freedom. Something had happened and Naruto needed to figure out what, so he went to the best place to think. The roof. However he didn't notice a pair stirring on Sakura's bed.

Naruto smiled as he laid on the roof, enjoying the gentle spring breeze as he tried to sort out the mess in his head. "Naruto-kun?" A voice asked softly, catching Naruto off guard and causing him to jump.

Naruto sat up and saw Sakura sticking her head out the window, rubbing one eye of sleep, "Man I'm losing my touch. This is the second time you startled me."

Sakura giggled as she climbed up next to Naruto. Kero flew out a second later looking both tired and angry, "So why are you up so late?"

"Well I was sleeping until a minute ago. All of the sudden my dream turned into a massive head with images flashing through my mind." Naruto explained as he scratched his head.

"Images…? Like random pictures that didn't make much sense?" Kero asked before letting out a yawn. Naruto's nod confirmed Kero's hypothesis, "Well it is possible that Naruto had a foretelling dream like you do Sakura." Kero explained before looking at Naruto inquisitively, "What were the images?"

Naruto looked up as he rubbed his chin, "Fire, a snake, half of the city was level, and someone wearing Sakura-chan's school uniform was lying in a pool of blood."

Kero flew over and landed on Sakura's shoulder between the two, "Well that can mean a number of things. Fire can go from just a mild heat to actual fire. Same with snake, it can go from a person to having a snake bite. The only one we really need to worry about is the person." Kero said as he crossed his arms, "I can honestly say this. A person and pool of blood is never a good sign."

"I could barely make out the person. It was someone I know, but I could tell it wasn't Sakura. That much was clear." Naruto stated before he turned back up to the night sky, "But if that really is the future… Why did only I see it?"

"Foretelling dreams always have a direct affect onto the dreamer in the future in a way they often don't foresee themselves, drastic or not. They also don't always give a clear picture of what's to come. Case in point, Sakura's foretelling dream shows exactly what's going to happen at a near date. Since your foretelling dream didn't give an exact picture of what is going to happen, it won't happen for a good while.

"Wait… Since Naruto-kun had a foretelling dream, doesn't that mean he has magic too?" Sakura asked in realization.

"That is possible, but what's important is that we find out what the dream means." Kero said with no smile, "If we don't, then things could wind up a lot worse than the dream foretold…" Kero gave a sigh before rubbing his head, "But let's focus on that tomorrow. Like I said, that kind of foretelling dream won't happen for a few months at least and I'm too tired to think on it." Kero said before yawning while rubbing his eye.

Sakura yawned as well after seeing Kero, "Yeah, and I need to sleep so I can focus on my notebook test tomorrow."

Naruto chuckled a bit before he and Sakura stood up and returned to Sakura's room in hopes of getting a good night sleep.

Despite the rude wakening late last night, the morning was still as chaotic as ever. Sakura was scrambling to gather her school supplies, Kero was crying over his lost game data, and Naruto was already on his way to work… or at least he was until he noticed something off.

Naruto sighed as he waited for the traffic cop to let him cross, deciding to take it easy that day. Then he looked across the street to see a couple he had seen the day before fighting, _"At it again? Man they don't get along at all…"_

"What do you know? You're the one who didn't finish high-school!"

"And yet I'm the one that has to solve all your problems!"

Naruto scowl a bit at the sight before looking at the two, _"Wait… didn't they have the exact same fight yesterday?"_ Naruto thought while a bead a sweat rolled down his brow. Of course the strangeness didn't stop there. He decided to look away from the fighting couple, only to see the exact same guy knock over a can of paint off the ladder he was standing on. _"Man… A lot of stuff is repeating today…"_

Then the last possible thing that could happen twice in one week, let along in one lifetime. Naruto watched as a boy bounced a toy ball to high, which hit the edge of a flower pot. The flower pot was knocked over onto its side and rolled down the window seal. The pot fell off and was caught by a broken rain gutter where it slid down to the sidewalk. The pot broke on the back of a skateboard, causing the skateboard to move a foot forward. Meanwhile, a shop owner who was carrying a giant German horn stepped out of his shop onto the skateboard. Losing his balance, he threw the horn up as he fell, which landed right onto the nearby traffic cop. With the cop distracted, a driver decided to take the chance to drive across the intersection, but the cop stumbled into the way of the car. The driver swerved the car to avoid the cop and hit a light post. The light post gave way and fell into the chimney of the corner bakery. The bakery filled with smoke as everyone ran out of the building.

All of this going on at once for a second time in a week made Naruto concerned, _"I'm not that smart when it comes to math but… even I know the odds of this happening twice in one lifetime is way too high to actually happen. I need to talk go talk to Sakura-chan…"_

Sakura and Tomoyo were on their way to the school. Everything was normal, that is until Tomoyo said, "Today is the recorder test. Let's do our best." Sakura stopped in mid-step, completely baffled by what Tomoyo said.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled from the sky before he landed next to her.

Sakura jumped in surprise at Naruto's sudden entrance, "Naruto-kun! You shouldn't pop up out of nowhere like that! What if someone saw you?"

"No worries. They're all focusing on their tests." Naruto waved off before getting to the reason of his appearance, "Anyway, when you stopped by boss's workshop yesterday, did you see the bakery?"

Sakura looked puzzled at the question before nodding, "Yeah. It was roped off because of a really weird accident. Something about a... ball, a flower pot… and…"

"A skateboard, large instrument, and car crashing into a light post which fell onto a bakery." Naruto finished, surprising Sakura with the details of the incident, "I just got done watching it all happen, again."

"Again? That's just like Tomoyo when she told me about the recorder test today!" Sakura exclaimed as she watched her friend walk ahead, "We had it yesterday, but no one seems to realize it."

Naruto hummed a bit as grabbed his chin in thought, "This is definitely Clow card weird. I'll go get Kero and meet you after lunch."

Sakura nodded before pulling out her house key and handing to Naruto, "Incase Kero-chan doesn't answer. I don't want Dad and big brother to have to start replacing locks from you picking them."

"That's why I've just been leaving your window unlocked." Naruto said bluntly before he walked away.

Sakura just stared blankly before turning to Naruto, "What?"

"Good luck on the recorder test today!" Naruto called back as he waved with Sakura's house key hanging off a finger.

Sakura groaned as she laid her head down on the desk, _"That Naruto-kun… Sometimes I wonder what I'll do with him…"_

Tomoyo glanced over at her dear friend in worry, "Sakura-chan? Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Just a bit annoyed at having to repeat today." Sakura whispered as she sat back up, "We did all of this yesterday."

"Sakura-chan, are you nervous?" Tomoyo asked with a friendly smile.

Sakura could only lower her head and shake it in denial, "It's not that…" The conversation could have carried on if Sakura's teacher hadn't decided to call on her.

The good news though was that Sakura's practice hadn't gone to waste as she performed her recorder test flawlessly. _"Nothing less from someone who performs well in finals." _Tomoyo commented in her mind as she smiled at her friend's success.

After a successful morning of testing, Sakura and Tomoyo sat down on the stairs in the courtyard, waiting on the arrival of Naruto and Kero. In the meantime, Sakura told Tomoyo about the strange predicament. Tomoyo's answer to that was, "Could it be Deja-vu?"

"Deja-vu?" Sakura asked having never heard the term before.

"Yes." Tomoyo replied, "Feeling like you've visited a place when you never have visited there or feeling like you've had the same conversation before when you are talking to someone."

"But mine is really clear in my mind. Plus Naruto-kun experienced the same thing, and his deja-vu… There is no way someone could predict that…" Sakura pointed out with a passive stare at the dirt. Sakura then pointed at the field where the boys were playing soccer, "That boy over there is going to hit him in the face with the ball. Then it will get kicked towards the goal and caught."

Sure enough, Sakura's prediction came true. "Now, now Sakura-chan. No using magic to predict sports." A voice said from behind them. Sakura and Tomoyo turned around to see Naruto standing at the top of the stairs with a satchel hanging on his shoulders, "Sorry I took so long. I had to find something to carry Kero in. Of course he had to save his game… again." Naruto said as he gave the satchel a sour look.

The satchel gave off a muffled speech, letting both girls know who was in it. Naruto then rubbed his nose, "Doesn't Li come walking by soon?"

Sakura nodded as Tomoyo looked up at someone approaching, "Oh, he really is here now."

Sakura looked up behind the stairs whereas Naruto just turned around, "So you noticed too?" Li simply glared at Naruto with a heated gaze and his lips shut tight. Naruto meanwhile simply gave Li an annoyed glare before sighing, "Sakura-chan, you talk to him. He doesn't want anything to do with me."

With that said, Naruto stepped a bit closer to the soccer game as this time Sakura glared at Li, "Are you still mad at Naruto-kun?"

"I simply don't like demons." Li spat as he continued to glare at Naruto, who was watching the soccer game.

Sakura and Tomoyo both prepared to defend Naruto, but he beat them to the punch, "I'm not a demon." Naruto said as he turned around to face Li, "I just a simple shinobi."

Li scowled at the lack of information he had hope to goat out of Naruto. So he tried the direct approach, "Then what was that you did when THUNDER appeared?"

"Honestly, I don't know myself." Naruto said as he shrugged, "But then again you don't even need to know. Besides, we have a problem to deal with don't we?"

"Yeah, the Clow card!" Kero whispered as he popped his head out of the satchel. He looked around to see if anyone could see him before continuing, "From what I've been told is happening, it has got to be TIME!"

"Are you serious? The Clow Reed guy made a card that could control time itself?" Naruto asked in disbelief.

Kero nodded, "Well, it's control is restricted to only speeding up time, stopping time, or reversing time in small intervals. It's not until midnight each night that TIME can rewind everything by a day."

"So then we simply have to find and capture the card before midnight tonight." Tomoyo said as she pushed off the staircase wall.

Li smirked and point up to the school clock tower, "You two haven't felt the card yet? It's up in the clock tower."

"Well… Honestly I haven't been paying it much attention." Naruto said with his usual sheepish grin as he rubbed the back of his head.

Before the conversation could continue however, the same call from yesterday was heard, "Look out!"

Just like last time, the ball flew right at them. Only this time, Naruto took over kicking the ball. Without even looking, he caught the soccer ball. The entire field looked in awe as Naruto tossed the soccer ball up and gave it a somersault kick into the goal. The goalie only blinked and looked down to where the ball had landed, "I didn't even see it…"

"It's a little different yesterday." Sakura commented as a bead of sweat rolled down the back of her head. The five then made plans to capture the card.

However with the school still filled with students and facility ready to call the police at the slightest suspicious activity, everyone had no choice but to wait to act.

"Zzz…"

The sound of Naruto sawing logs near the school wall behind some bushes could be heard throughout the schoolyard. Why is Naruto sleeping you ask? Well when you sit in the school yard waiting for everyone for an hour, you tend to get bored and fall asleep.

The tree near Naruto rustled as Sakura, Tomoyo, and Kero all dropped from the tree. Kero was first to notice the sleeping blonde, "I told you he couldn't wait."

"Then again, we did say we would be back within the hour…" Tomoyo said in Naruto's defense.

Sakura squirmed nervously in her fairy costume when she heard this, "I couldn't help it. I was celebrating with Father and Big brother…"

The costume in question was yet another design of Tomoyo's. The skirt part of the dress is cylindrical with frills. The dress is sleeveless and under the skirt is a pair of puffy shorts. On the front of the skirt is a seam with a yellow circle at the top of the seam. Yellow arm and wristbands have been used throughout the costume where Tomoyo has removed the sleeves of the dress. She also has a necklace out of the same material as the armbands. Sakura also has two scrunchies tying her hair together and two scrunchies on the top of her shoes. Sakura's shoes are ordinary white shoes with two pom-poms which are the same as the scrunchies that have been used throughout the costume. The main focus point of the whole costume is the green fairy wings on the back of the dress. They are aerodynamic and therefore make it easier for Sakura to move around in. **(I didn't have an idea for Naruto with this costume beside Peter Pan, so I went screw it.)**

Kero decided that Naruto had slept long enough, "Time to get up!" He said before chomping onto Naruto's ear.

Thankfully Sakura and Tomoyo acted quickly and covered Naruto's mouth to prevent the loud scream that was sure to come. One lumpy Kero and an angry Naruto later, the two had calmed down enough to discuss what to do.

"So how are we going to get up there?" Naruto asked as he rubbed his chin. He could easily run up the wall, but then again the card might hear him.

Kero meanwhile, decided to not think, "Let's just fly up there!"

Sakura nodded in agreement as she pulled out the FLY card, only to stop when Naruto grabbed her hand, "Hold on, we have to think about this. This card can control time. So if it notices us, what's to stop it from rewinding us back to the ground or speeding up time to midnight then just hitting the reset button on us?"

"Naruto-san does make a good point. Perhaps we should go through the inside of the school?" Tomoyo observed as she filmed the group.

Kero frowned at being pointed wrong but didn't argue with the plan, "I guess. Let's get going before the brat shows up."

The four made their way to the door of the clock tower where Naruto picked the door's lock. "Walk slowly. The slightest noise could startle the card." Naruto whispered as he led the other up the stairs. Sakura was right behind him with Tomoyo taking the rear hoping to get the best camera angles.

After climbing a part of the tower slowly Kero decided to speak out, "We should have just flown up to the top. It would have been a lot-" Kero unfortunately didn't pay attention as he spoke and bumped into one of the hanging pistons.

The bump caused the piston to vibrate just enough to cause a ring to fill the tower. A certain magical old man raised his head as the noise reached his ears. He raised his hands towards the hourglass in his lap. It was time to rid himself of intruders.

"Damn! Run for it!" Naruto yelled as he charged up the stairs. Everyone followed hoping to get to the card in time to stop it.

However TIME had other plans. The minute hand of the clock started to tick like seconds until it hit midnight. Naruto managed to make it to the top of the stairs just in time to get a look at TIME just as the card triggered its full power. That was the last thing Naruto remembered before he fell into darkness as his head was slammed with pain.

"_Again?" _Naruto thought as he was bombarded with images. He wasn't even aware that he had become unconscious as the images flashed one after another, _"A cave in a mountain… shadows and… whispering…?" _Naruto thought as the small voices spoke.

"_Must find… jin… can't fa… maru-sama's anger…"_

"_Who were they?"_ Naruto asked before a light penetrated the world around him.

Naruto groaned as he woke up, sitting up in the small space Sakura's closet provided with a dresser. He head was throbbing from the forced visions and lack of sleep. _"I wonder if my visions have anything to do with TIME?"_

Naruto climbed out of the closet quietly while making sure to grab his remaining equipment. He tip-toed over to Kero and whispered quietly, "Kero, how do you stop the TIME card if you can't use magic?"

Kero moaned in his sleep as he rolled over, "Take the hour glass... He can't use magic without it…"

Naruto smiled when Kero revealed the information he needed. With the stealth of a ninja, he walked over to Sakura's desk and scribbled a quick note into Sakura's note book before climbing out the window.

Within minutes, Naruto was in the school courtyard, "Okay, let's see if I can't have this present wrapped up for Sakura-chan by morning." Naruto took off towards the clock tower and jumped onto the tower wall. Naruto made a small group of clones as he climbed the tower, "Make a distraction so I can sneak up on time!"

"Yes!" The five clones replied as they broke off from the real Naruto. The clone went up to the bell while Naruto stopped at the clock tower window. He took a peak through the window to where he remembered TIME sitting.

TIME meanwhile was confused. It had felt the presence of the boy from earlier, and then it felt five more of the same presence. To the card's knowledge, only one of its fellow cards could mimic the feel of a person's spirit and even it couldn't do it to this extent.

In its pondering, TIME hadn't noticed that Naruto had snuck into the clock tower while his clones ran amok upstairs. Naruto creped slowly towards the old man who eyeing the stair case cautiously. The clones were simply acting a fool, dancing around and making faces as the card to keep its attention, but never crossing the first step. TIME was completely baffled by the behavior before realizing something. There were only five clones on the stairs, one was missing.

But TIME's realization came too late as his hour glass was snatched out of his hands with a triumphant cheer, "I got it!" TIME turned to retrieve his hourglass, only to be tackled and tied up by the five clones. The card struggled to get loose, but with both the ninja wire and clones keeping a hold on him, it was futile.

Naruto looked at the hourglass and decided to set it down next to him as he sat on the floor, "Look, I don't know if you can talk or not, but I got some questions. For one, what is going on with my head? Why am I seeing visions of the future that don't make sense?"

The card continued to struggle for a moment, but soon figured out his escape wouldn't be possible. With a cough, he asked, "May I sit up?" Naruto was a bit surprised that the card could indeed talk since all the cards up to this point were rather silent. He gave his clones a nod, which helped TIME to a proper sitting position. TIME gave a relieved sigh before asking, "Before I answer you, let me ask this. What do you know of the flow of time?"

"Flow of time? Doesn't it go in one direction?" Naruto asked completely puzzled by the question.

"Yes and no. Time does continue to flow in one direction, but where it is branches off or stays straight is another story. The slightest change in one's life makes two or more separate timelines to follow. My former master Clow Reed once had a prediction of a girl becoming the next most powerful mage in the world." Naruto nodded, having a guess he was talking about Sakura. "Over time he would ask me to check on the prediction and make sure it hadn't changed, for the slightest alteration of the past can dramatically change one's future. When he had asked me once again to redo the prediction… You came into play."

"Me?" Naruto asked a bit shocked at the statement. How could he, a person from another world, be in another world's future?

"Yes. My master had me dive into this mystery and see what awaited you. What I saw… could end you both if you're not prepared for it." TIME revealed as he watched Naruto's reaction.

Naruto was shocked. If he and Sakura didn't get ready for what was to come, they would both die? "How…?"

"That I cannot answer for I was not shown. But this I can answer. I gave you your visions in hope of helping prepare you for what is to come. I have fulfilled my former master's last request. It is up to you to find out what your visions mean. I do offer this one warning. Train the girl to fight, for she will not survive if she isn't." TIME said before giving off a glow.

"Hey, wait! What does this mean?" Naruto yelled, only to be ignored as TIME returned to its cards form. The card floated over into Naruto's hand as Naruto tried to make sense of what TIME had said, _"This just too much… I gotta talk to everyone in the morning."_

Naruto waited at the school for Sakura, Tomoyo, and Kero to all arrive where they met back up during lunch. Naruto pulled the card out and handed it to Sakura, "Here."

Everyone was shocked to see Naruto with the card as Sakura took it, "But… how did…?"

"He turned back willingly after I tied him up. But more importantly is what he told me… Something bad is going to happen." Naruto said with a completely serious face. The other three looked a bit worried at Naruto's expression as he continued, "Turns out my visions were coming from the card. He was trying to warn me of an attack from the future if I'm interpreting it right."

"An attack?" Tomoyo asked, now more curious then worried.

"He didn't give me the details, but from what I can make out of the visions I had, its bad. That being said, I'm going to ask Pervy Sage for some basic training scrolls. I'm only going to ask you one thing, I want to try you both how to fight." Naruto said, catching both girls off guard.

"To fight… As in, kill?" Sakura asked looking absolutely terrified at the idea.

"No, not like that. I'm talking self-defense only. Ways to break genjutsu, deflect projectiles, and disable enemies. I'm not the best teacher and will probably wind up learning a bit myself since I slept through a lot of class but…" Naruto sighed when he caught a look at everyone's face. He was going to have to be blunt, "TIME told me that if me and Sakura aren't ready when attack happens… We'll both die."

That got a group gasp. "We'll… die?" Sakura asked before grabbing her throat like it was about to be cut off. Tomoyo was too shocked for words.

Kero meanwhile, just looked down at the ground, "So this is what he meant…" Kero muttered before looking up, "Clow Reed mentioned that worlds would cross and blood would spill should time allow it. I just thought that he meant countries going to war from what I had seen while sealed in the book, but this is…" Kero too found himself at a loss for words.

"I won't expect an answer right away. Take some time to think on it. I'm going to take the rest of the day to brush up on my skills. I'll be back at your house tonight Sakura-chan." Naruto said before walking away. The entire group had some serious thinking to do.

No one noticed the pair of ears listening in to the conversation. Syaoran, having been denied another card, decided to eve drop on the group, only to hear the shocking information. The cards were important, but if what TIME foretold was going to happen, perhaps it was time for Syaoran to readdress his priorities.

**Alright. I'm finally taking this into a more serious direction. It's going to get better, hopefully, but only time will tell.**

**I know I majorly underplayed Syaoran again, but that was only for this chapter. For all you Syaoran fans, Syaoran's part kicks in next chapter, I promise.**

**And a little gift for my absence, let's just say now that Naruto is back in the game after a month of being gone, the cards are going to be less than friendly towards everyone even more so than usual.**

**And now the question of the chapter, who knows why Naruto turned back to normal?**

**Well I saw no questions beside who got the card, which I forgot to tell. Sakura picked it up after Naruto ran off.**

_**Please Read, Enjoy, and Review**_


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